When it rains in LA...

...bad things happen. Take a look at some of the damage from the rain around USC.

Annenberg Auditorium was flooded after weeks of rain in Los Angeles.


The weather roughed up Cafe 84 as well.

Heritage Hall's basement was also flooded...

...not to mention the computer lab.

And some of the streets on and around campus turned into rivers.


To see more pictures of rain damaged buildings around 'SC, click here.

01/04/05 Miami Herald

Check out the front page from January 4's Miami Herald. While I was in Miami at the Orange Bowl, I went to the Beach Bash the day before the game. I ended up making the page one the next morning along with two of my friends.

This was the front page of the Miami Herald on January 4, 2005, the day of this year's Orange Bowl.


Look who's on the right of the picture. Yes, that would be me, and I ended up catching that football after extending my arm high above that of any other hopeful fan. The ball turned out to be signed by former University of Colorado running back Eric Bienemy. Once he gave his prediction that OU would beat USC in the next day's game, I considered throwing the ball back.

Dumb News

Here are some of the stories of the day that I found particularly interesting because they were - for lack of a better word - stupid. These stories are about stupid people or ideas.

First, this gem from CNN.com:


You've gotta read this.

The principal at a California high school cancelled the rest of the school year's dances after students failed to stop freak dancing at other school-sanctioned dances. I couldn't believe this story when I first read it. Wow.

Personally, I don't think that freak dancing is such a big deal at the high school level. Had this been a junior high, then perhaps the principal's dance-cancelling would seem more reasonable. It's still a funny story.

------------------------------

Next, a Mississippi library banned Daily Show host Jon Stewart's "America (The Book)" citing nude depictions of Supreme Court Justices. Something tells me that the "nude depictions" aren't the only thing keeping this book out of the library.




Jon Stewart is a strong liberal, and he has never tried to keep this a secret. Mississippi isn't exactly a moderate state. In fact, I'm pretty sure that Stewart's political views are keeping his book out of this library. Granted, I haven't seen the depictions, so maybe I'm out of line here, but I'm sure there are worse things in books in that library.

-------------------------

Finally, a story I found on ESPN.com about a woman who got hit in the face with a hockey puck at Madison Square Garden three years ago.


OUCH!

A judge is allowing a woman hit by a puck to sue the New York arena. She can now proceed with an $11 million lawsuit. The puck broke her nose in three places and caused other severe facial injuries.

Here's my problem with this lawsuit and why I don't think she will (or want her to) win this case now that it's going to trial. Anyone who has ever been to an NHL hockey game (back when they still played) has had a ticket to get into that sporting event. On the back of all hockey tickets for any arena that hosts an NHL team is a warning. This warning says that pucks flying into the stands can cause serious injury or death. Anyone in attendance is warned on the back of their ticket about the possibility of injury.

While I'd be pissed if I got hit in the face with a puck, I'd know that I couldn't sue because the warning is on the back of the ticket. The fact that a judge is letting this case go forward pisses me off. Stupid lady. I'm not saying it's her fault for getting hit by the puck, but she shouldn't be allowed to sue.

No, Auburn, it's not your title

I would like this entry to serve as a response to "Rob" the person who posted the following comment about why I thought Auburn didn't deserve a share of college football's national championship (10 things I realized in Miami).

1 Comment:
Rob said...
Reasons why Auburn is the NCAA National Champion
* Beat then-No. 5 LSU, the undefeated defending national champions.
* Beat then-No. 10 Tennessee, in Knoxville by 24 points.
* Beat then-No. 8 Georgia in 24-6 slaughter.
* Beat, for a second time, the SEC West champions Tennessee in the SEC
Championship.
* Beat No. 9 Virginia Tech, a team on an eight-game winning streak, in a
pressure-packed, everybody's watching bowl game.
* Proven they are the best team in the SEC and the ACC, the NCAA's top
football conferences.
* Has the 5th best total defense in the NCAA, ahead of No. 6 USC and No. 7
Oklahoma.

Comment away at http://f1fe.com/blogRob

Rob

First of all, that's great that they beat four then-top-10 teams. Georgia did finish the year sixth in the USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches Top 25 poll and seventh in the AP poll and BCS standings. Other than that, Auburn's other tough opponent that Rob pointed out was ACC champ Virginia Tech, who USC also beat this season (and by more than just three points, might I add). And to say that Auburn beat them in a pressure-packed, everybody's watching bowl game: hey Rob, ALL BOWLS ARE PRESSURE-PACKED FOR THE TEAMS INVOLVED!!! And who defines "everybody's watching" when the Sugar Bowl rated below the Orange Bowl this year?

As for Tennessee, they finished the year at 15 in the BCS after ending their season with a win the Cotton Bowl to a Texas A&M team that quite frankly wouldn't have beaten most junior high teams. They were also 15th in the Coaches poll but did manage to earn the 12th spot in the AP poll.

Then there's LSU, who Rob identified as the undefeated defending national champions. While they did finish 11th in the BCS, both the Coaches and AP polls had them at 16. And one key reason they had decent season they did was in large part thanks to Oregon State place-kicker Alexis Serna, who missed three extra points - the third would have tied the game instead of giving LSU the slim 22-21 victory.

Good for Auburn for beating those tough teams. In all seriousness, that's tough to do. But what about those "week's off" they took when they played teams like Louisiana Monroe (5-6 in the Sun Belt conference), Louisiana Tech (6-6 in the WAC), the SEC's red-headed stepchild football team Kentucky (2-9), and let's not forget The Citadel (a Division I-AA team). National champions don't beat up on "little brother" teams. Why not schedule a game against a local high school instead?

By the way, are we talking about the same Auburn that lost to USC (at home) in last season's opener 23-0? Just checking.

And yes, Auburn does have a good defense, a better statistical total defense than both OU and USC according to Rob, but let's look at the offense of 'SC compared to Auburn and see what we find, shall we?

This is a USC offense that has put up at least 35 points in 20 games over the past two seasons. This is an offense that finished No. 7 in the nation scoring 38.2 points per game, compared to Auburn's 32.1 (they finished down the list at No. 19).

Auburn was a good football team this year. They won their conference. Good for them. That's it. They didn't win the BCS title nor the AP title. They didn't win. Tough. I'm not saying I love the BCS, because I don't. I think it sucks. I think there should have been a way for 'SC to prove to any and all doubters that they would have beated Auburn if given the opportunity.

Auburn didn't exactly crush Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl, either. If it weren't for several crucial Virgina Tech mistakes, we wouldn't even be having this argument. Auburn was lucky to get out of New Orleans with a win. After squeaking by Virginia Tech 16-13, don't come begging the AP voters for a share of the title. I don't care that you had a 16-00 lead. It was barely enough. You didn't see USC give up 30 more points to OU after taking a 55-10 lead just because they had the points to spare. The Trojans closed them out. Auburn almost didn't.

And, honestly, do any Auburn fans truly think that the Tigers would have pulled it off, especially after watching what was considered a dynamite OU team get absolutely destroyed by the Trojans in what Rob could truly call a "pressure-packed, everybody's watching" game. It was 55-19, and the last nine points OU scored were pity points given up by second and third stringers.

55-19, Rob. After the game, every announcer in America described USC as being in a league of their own. Last I checked, Auburn wasn't included in that league, a league of national champions.

Fight on, 'SC!

Oh, and Rob. I am responding to your comments on my blog because the link you left me didn't work, so I do hope you get a chance to read this and understand that I'm happy Auburn had a good season, but I have absolutely no sympathy for them.

Stand up!

When I read about the parents of a 13-year-old girl spending detention with her because they felt responsible for her constant tardiness, I realized that I would probably have done the same thing. Even though this girl said it was a little embarrassing to have her mom and stepdad in detention with her, I think it's pretty cool of them to take the punishment along with their daughter.

After six tardies, the school gave her a detention which her mother argued, saying that because the family's van wouldn't start, the tardies weren't her fault. The school rejected the mother's objection to the punishment, so she decided to do the time for the crime with her daughter.

That's pretty cool of the parents. As dumb as I would probably feel sitting with my parents in detention, I like the idea that they stood up for the fact that their daughter's tardiness wasn't her own fault.

Listerine lied!

It was hard not to laugh when I read this.

A judge ordered Listerine to stop running ads saying the mouthwash was just as effective as flossing at fighting gum and tooth decay. Duh! Yes, I've seen these commercials, with the swooshing mouthwash, and NO I didn't buy it - not the product, but the slogan.

If I want something to do the job of flossing, I'll use floss. If I want something to rinse my mouth out while adding minty-freshness then I'll grab the Listerine.

Here's a helpful hint for the American public:
USE BOTH!

C'mon now. Flossing takes all of 60 seconds. Add another five seconds for using mouthwash. That's only a minute and five seconds extra in addition to brushing. Not that hard to do, I must say.

Still, it was hard for me not to laugh when I saw the headline on cnn.com that read Judge: Listerine not same as flossing.

Super Sunday not as great in February

Last year the NFL has let me down, and this year it looks to be more of the same. When the Patriots faced off against the Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston, something about the game didn't feel right. Not the fact that the Panthers lost. Not the fact that people talked about the halftime show more than the great game the teams played. Super Bowl Sunday lost its luster because the game was played on February 1, 2004.

February 1.

February!

COME ON, PAUL TAGLIABUE! FIX THIS INJUSTICE!

For the past 20 years, the Super Bowl has been primarily played on the final Sunday in January. Before that the game was even earlier in January. The one exception came when the entire NFL season was pushed back one week in 2001 after the September 11 attacks.

This year, however, is the second consecutive year the Super Bowl will be played the first weekend in February (what used to be the ProBowl weekend). Super Bowl XXXIX will be held in Jacksonville on February 6, 2005. Next year will be more of the same as Super Bowl XL will be in Detroit on February 5, 2006.

That just makes me cringe (no, not the fact that it's in Detroit, but that doesn't really help). Since its inception, the Super Bowl has been in January, but with the season expanding from twelve to 14 to 16 games in a season, the post-season would start later and later until finally NFL schedulers agreed to hold the Super Bowl on the final Sunday in January with the adoption of the 16-game schedule.

Now the season has been starting later and later, so the regular season extends into January with the Super Bowl in February. I hope this problem gets fixed soon. And it is a problem. The Super Bowl's place is the last weekend in January. Any other time just doesn't feel right.

BACK TO BACK

Watch USC do it's thing against OU, scoring their highest point total for the season against the Sooners in the FedEx Orange Bowl.


Click the photo to watch 'SC dominate OU in what was billed as the game of the (five-year-old) century.
(photo courtesy of ESPN)

10 Things I realized in Miami

Over the course of the day on January 4, 2005, there were ten specific incidents or ideas that I feel need to be addressed. These are in no particular order:

1. Auburn should not get a share of the national title.

The Tigers had a great year going 13-0 and beating ACC Champs Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl 16-13. They won the SEC and beat four top ten teams. Good job. I'm happy for them for their success, but I would abhor the idea of USC sharing the title with them.

It's nothing personal against Auburn, but this is the system we live with. The BCS decides who's in and who's out in the national title game, and this year Auburn was out. I understand that they won arguably the toughest conference in college football and went undefeated in doing so, but the Tigers also played some of the easiest opponents.

USC earned their spot in the national title game. They went wire-to-wire as the nation's top team. OU did the same from the No. 2 spot. After the Orange Bowl, it's easy to say that Auburn should have played 'SC instead of the Sooners, but that doesn't mean the Tigers should get a share of the national title. It could have been 55-19 USC over Auburn instead of OU.

Regardless, USC proved to the nation that they - and only they - deserve the honor of being called the 2004 National Champions.

2. OU fans are idiots

While walking around the pre-game tailgate party, an OU fan began talking crap to me and my friends. He mocked the fact that Trojan fans hold up two fingers - our victory sign - and kept saying "that's right, you're number two." Now, maybe it's was because that's just as high as the dumb Sooner could count or that was the number of teeth he had, but it was pretty clear after the game USC was not number two to anyone on that night.

Also, an OU fan sitting behind me at the game poked my shoulder every thirty seconds over the course of the first five minutes of the game, when OU had a 7-0 lead and the Trojans were stopped short on their first drive. "Is that what a Heisman winning quarterback is?" "What's up Trojan-boy?" "The Pac-10 sucks. Come to the Big XII and play real football!" I can take the taunting but don't keep poking me.

After grabbing the guys fingers and twisting his wrist - and USC's 55-3 run in the game - he shut up. Actually, he wasn't even there to see the whole thing. He left midway through the third quarter. Nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey, goodbye!

3. 'SC fans OUtnumbered

Looking around the Beach Bash, the pre-game tailgate and during the game, there were clearly more Sooner fans than Trojan fans. Potentially even a 2:1 ratio. Despite their strength in numbers, the massive collection of OU fans were quickly taken out of the game by a stronger USC defense that took the ball away four times in the first half. The Trojan offense converted all four turnovers into points and never looked back.

4. An OUtrageously large band

I always thought the USC band with more than 250 members was big. Then I saw the +360 member OU marching band. I just don't see the point in having a collection of more than 30 flute players in one place at any given time.

5. Snack bar smarts

Before the game started, I went to get some food from the snack bar outside my section. Three hot dogs and a small Sprite was all I wanted. Hot dogs were $4 each. The Sprite was $3.50. The guy rang me up: "$19.50" he said.

'Bullshit!' I thought to myself.

"Hold on," I told him. "This can't be $19.50. The hot dogs are $4 each, right?"
"Right."
"And the drink is $3.50, right?"
"Right."
"Well that's $15.50."
"The register says $19.50," he told me. Well thank you. I can see the register says $19.50 but I'm thinking you made a mistake on this one, buddy.

He entered my order into the register again. $19.50. I thought to myself, how in the world is he doing this? He called over another snack bar worker who helped him stare blankly at the register until yet another snack bar employee in the background noticed the commotion, did the math and got the problem straightened out.

Seriously, $19.50 for three hot dogs and a soda ... I don't need a cash register to know that isn't right.

6. 3rd and OUt

Before we were halfway through the third quarter, most OU fans were making their way toward the exits. That was a great sight after the majority of Sooner fans spent most of the morning acting completely classless and downright rude to numerous 'SC fans. One OU fan sitting one row in front of me, however, got up from his seat with just over six minutes to go, turn around, extended his hand and said, "Congratulations. Y'all earned this one."

I shook his hand thinking "FINALLY! An OU fan with a shred of class and decency."

7. Patchwork

I have never seen such a commotion over a patch. Any patch. Not a birth control patch nor a nicotine patch. But the Orange Bowl people must think that their patch is the antidote for cancer, AIDS and world hunger. I have never seen such an attempt to sell any product ever. Needless to say, mine came with the tickets I purchased.

8. No keys necessary

At the end of USC football games, my friends and I - along with the entire USC student section and really the whole LA Coliseum - will take out our keys and jingle them at the other team and their fans, letting them know that we've got this game wrapped up and they can leave now. Not at the Orange Bowl. OU fans were gone before an Trojan fan could reach into their pocket. Gotta love a blow out!

9. Ticket madness

With the game over before the fourth quarter started, my friend and I began wondering when to make the move from our nose bleed-inducing seats down to the lower bowl. With under seven minutes to play, we made our way down the long spiral ramps of Pro Player Stadium to the lower level. We walked up to the entrance to a lower section where an usher asked for our tickets.

With five minutes to go in the game, this guy was checking tickets to make sure we were in our section. I'm sorry, but come on now! Sooner fans are scrambling for the nearest exit. There are virtually half of the seats in the stadium empty, and this guy's not gonna let us in. Someone's on a power trip.

We walked down three sections and made our way into the lower bowl all the way down to the fifth row to watch time expire. After straining my eyes to make out which dot had the ball in the upper deck, I was front and center for the trophy presentation.

10. NFL: Now for Leinart

As sad as I am to say it, there is no way quarterback Matt Leinart is sticking around for another season at 'SC. Yeah, a three-peat would be great, and maybe it'd still be possible without him, but after a Heisman-winning season and back-to-back national championships, there really isn't anything left for him to accomplish.

He did great things for the Trojans' football program during his two years as the starters, winning all but one of his starts. He'll make a great quarterback in the NFL, and now is his time. As for the rest of the Trojans, with a young offensive line, and all stand out skill players returning, the USC offense has most the pieces in place to keep the tempo of a high scoring offense next season.

Orange Bowl audio

These are sounds from the pep rally and the Orange Bowl I recorded during my brief but amazing visit to Miami for Southern California's appearance in the FedEx Orange Bowl.

Listen up as the greatest band in the history of the universe fired up Trojans fans in Miami at the pep rally the night before the Orange Bowl.

Band director and on-campus celebrity Dr. Arthur C. Bartner gives his opinion of OU fans after he and band were surrounded by Sooners all day.

The Spirit of Troy plays Get Down Tonight.

Bartner talks about the Trojans' defense.

A SoCal spell out at the pep rally.

The band plays a fan-favorite, Tusk (also known as UCLA Sucks), at the pep rally.

Bartner talks about the importance of the crowd support for the team.

The pep rally was amazing. I was ready for the game to start then. All the Trojan faithful were. After hearing the greatest band in the history of the universe play for hours and seeing a sea of cardinal and gold in the huge meeting room of a hotel, I was ready for kick off with 22 hours to go.

When I got inside Pro Player Stadium, the site of the Orange Bowl, I got to my seat and had one thought.

The game ended and the final score was even more unbelieveable than the realization that I had just witnessed the Trojans win a second straight national championship.

After the game I stayed in the stands to see the trophy presentation. The band kept on playing. The fans kept on cheering. Head coach Pete Carroll as well as numerous other assistant coaches were covered in gatorade. It was such an amazing moment.

Seeing the Trojans beat the Sooners in the Orange Bowl will most likely be one of if not my greatest memory when I look back on my college experience. With more than two years to go in my college career, however, who knows what the future holds. All I know is that since my arrival at USC, I have felt no greater joy than that which I experienced as the final seconds ticked off the clock at the Orange Bowl.

The University of Southern California Trojans

2004 College Football National Champions

ManiAACs not as rowdy as Reunion

At the Mavericks game tonight, I realized as fact something I had thought since the American Airlines Center opened in downtown Dallas in 2001. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful arena. It's roomy, it's luxurious and it's comfortable. It's been a great home to the Mavericks and Stars (and even the Desperados). The arena's ability to generate a true homecourt advantage compared to its predecessor, however, is disgraceful.

The AAC was built after Reunion Arena was deemed outdated and inadequate for sporting events of the twenty-first century. It didn't have box suites. It didn't have luxury lounges. It had two levels filled with plastic seats. That's it. The newer AAC has all that and more. It's huge. Just looking around the building, you can tell its enormity. Everything is so spread out. And therein lies the problem.

Here is the seating chart of Reunion Arena compared to that of the American Airlines Center. You can just tell by the different levels and spacing in the AAC that it's more complex and spread out.


Reunion Arena seating chart

AAC seating chart

The problem with the Double-A-C is that because everyone is so spread out, the crowd is not as loud. They've replaced the thousands of seats in Reunion Arena with 40 box suites in the AAC, and people in box suites don't cheer like people in regular seats.

Here's how people in these box suites view the idea of cheering during a game:

And you can clearly see the difference of just how closely packed to the court fans were at Reunion compared to a spread out American Airlines Center which isn't half as conducive to creating a truly effective home-court advantage.

Here's a shot of Reunion Arena. There are two levels of seats. No luxury boxes in between. Just places for the butts of every Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars fan. If you wanted to come watch your team gut it out that night, this was the place to be, and people loved it. The fans loved it.


Empty Reunion Arena

The American Airlines Center, however, is much more spread out, with more levels of luxury suites breaking up the stands. The upper deck is so far removed from the playing surface that any noise from the upper deck is negligible compared to this arena's predecessor just a few miles south on I-35.


Empty American Airlines Center

Now compare a full Reunion Arena with a packed house at the Double-A-C. The fans are so far removed from the action in the AAC that, quite frankly, the home court advantage is nothing compared to the "old days" at Reunion Arena.

Hockey at Reunion Arena


A full house at the AAC

As a sports fan, I go to the games to root on my team. With all these box suites and Platinum level seating, many people attend the games as an activity, as something to do. I don't mind that some people go to the games just as something to do and not to cheer for the team. I'm not asking for an arena full of die-hards, but I just want the home-court advantage to be the best for the team's sake.

Roses for Texas

As I watched Texas kicker Dusty Mangum's 37-yard field goal split the arms of Michigan blockers and clear the line of scrimmage, I knew it was good. Sure enough, the ball slipped in for three points with no time left to give Texas a 38-37 win over Michigan. What an amazing game.

For three weeks college football analysts complained that Texas stole Cal's place in the Rose Bowl, which traditionally hosts the champions of the Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences. Cal complained that Texas classlessly campaigned for votes to move them into place for a BCS bowl bid on the final poll of the season. Cal said they got snubbed.

Yet it was Cal who lost - no, who got blown out - by Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl. On the other hand Texas, who finished its season 11-1, beat 9-3 Michigan to prove wrong the doubters of not only head coach Mack Brown but quarterback Vince Young.


photo courtesy of ESPN.com
Texas quarterback Vince Young was runnin runnin and runnin runnin past Michigan to the tune of 21 carries, 193 yards and four trips into the endzone.
-- CLICK PHOTO FOR VIDEO OF YOUNG AND GAME HIGHLIGHTS --

While Mangum's field goal gave the Longhorns the win, the legs of Young carried the team the whole night. Michigan's game plan to stop Texas running back Cedric Benson (23 carries, 70 yards) worked against them as Young exploited the defense making Michael Vick-like plays and making defenders miss en route to the end zone. Despite only passing for one touchdown, he scored four on the ground.

He scored four rushing touchdowns. Say what you will, but Vince Young - or any player who can do that on a stage like the Rose Bowl - is special.

"That's why they play the games." Every week some football announcer will say this, and after this game surely they are shouting it out. This was an amazing game that pitted to storied football schools against each other leaving all who watched it amazed and astounded. And don't call me Shirley.