As with previous editions, I want to help Buff fans get to know our new conference members.
This week, we'll try to find out what the "S" in USC stands for.
They are who they are. They're Los Angeles personified. Form trumps substance. Bad press is better than no press. Money gets thrown around like a they're a professional athlete in a strip club. Being seen in the right place is equated to being relevant.
When they work the hype machine, the triumphs are talked about as legendary, the disappointments are repackaged as successes, and the bombs are made into legends in their own right. This is USC. It's Hollywood football (even though they're actually in the hood).
Does the "S" stand for superficial?
Let's look at some USC history. They have won a bunch of conference titles, some national championships, and a lot of Heisman trophies. Word is that some of them remain untainted by national scandal and there are actually a few trophies still on display.
When I think of USC greatness, I think of Heisman winners like OJ Simpson (murderer), Charles White (drug addict) and Reggie Bush ("entrepreneur").
I think of the recent great USC teams. From 2002 through 2008, USC won or shared the Pac-10 title every season. They have promoted this era as a "dynasty". Incredible spin.
2002 - Couldn't get over on Washington State, which cost them a title shot.
2003 - Couldn't get over on Cal, which cost them a title shot.
2004 - Won it all. Auburn's still wondering how it went undefeated in the SEC and didn't get a title shot.
2005 - Choked on turnovers and inability to convert to give Texas a title.
2006 - Found ways to lose to Oregon State and UCLA, which cost them a title shot.
2007 - Found ways to lose to Stanford and Oregon (neither were good), which cost them a title shot
2008 - Found a way to lose again to Oregon State, which cost them a title shot.
USC rolled through those 8 years. Incredible talent. Tons of swagger (a potential "S" word). But only got it done once and the year they did it they didn't even have to play the most deserving competition in the title game.
And in typical Hollywood fashion, this 8-year run was built by doing what it took to have a hit.
2004 championship - VACATED due to NCAAA violations. Basically, an agent bought Bush's family a house and helped them out with some financials. Bush refused to sign with that agent or pay him back, and USC got ****ed in the ass. There were other reports, but nothing was proved.
Does the "S" stand for scandal or $?
Great players from the era have also had some "help" to get where they got. Take the case of USC linebacker Brian Cushing. His one-year gains to size and strength were truly impressive. Maybe even Nebraska impressive.
I remember a safety for USC, Brandon Ting, who also failed a test back in 2006 and left the program. His dad was one of the Balco doctors connected to Bonds. Interesting how USC never played for a title after 2005.
Does the "S" stand for steroids?
Then there are the celebrities that took advantage of USC being in the limelight by making sure they were getting extra pub by being attached to the program.
There's Will Ferrell, who is actually legit. He graduated from USC with some sort of sports broadcasting degree.
But then there are the others. Snoop Dogg is still living off his 1993 hit Gin n Juice and uses the USC program to keep himself in the press. Reports of him throwing parties for USC players. And he even went the extra mile of getting himself arrested while wearing a USC jersey.
Then there is Nick Lachey, who was in the boy band 98 Degrees (which I've honestly never heard of). Best known for having a reality show while being married to Jessica Simpsom, Lachey was always around the USC program, which helped get his no-talent mug in front of the camera.
The Kardashian sisters also like to party with USC.
Does the "S" stand for social-pariah or sycophant?
USC running back Marc Tyler had some thoughts on the subject.
As Tyler suggested, does the "s" stand for sexual - the University of Sexual Ballers? (We'll just ignore his difficulty with letters).
In the final analysis, USC is a lot of things but not any one thing. It's about being superficial. It's about having scandal. It's about swagger. It's about steroids or other drugs. It's about $s. And it's about being social pariahs.
When you pull it all together, USC takes this unsavory mix and wins a lot more than it loses while even getting a ton of people to root for them.
The only possible explanation is that the "S" stands for Sheen.
#winning
But not tonight!
Buffs ride the home energy of a Friday night blackout, a drunk, disorderly and pissed off crowd, and the return of playmakers P-Rich & Speedy to a signature win over a program that prides itself on delivering them for conference members.
CU - 38
USC - 34
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