USC Football: 2009 NFL Draft Results

The Men of Troy faired very well in the 2009 NFL draft.  As expected, four Trojan linebackers were chosen.  What was not expected, by some, is the order with Rey Maualuga going behind both Cushing and Mathews.  This may be more of a reflection of the NFL’s move away from inside linebackers rather than Maualuga’s skill level. 

This is the list of USC players drafted this year:

• Mark Sanchez – New York Jets, Round 1, No. 5 overall
• Brian Cushing -Houston Texans, Round 1, No. 15 overall
• Clay Matthews – Green Bay Packers, Round 1, No. 26 overall
• Rey Maualuga – Cincinnati Bengals, Round 2, No. 38 overall
• Fili Moala – Indianapolis Colts, Round 2, No. 56 overall
• Patrick Turner – Miami Dolphins, Round 3, No. 87 overall
• Kaluka Maiava – Cleveland Browns, Round 4, No. 104 overall
• Kyle Moore – Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Round 4, No. 117 overall
• David Buehler – Dallas Cowboys, Round 5, No. 172 overall
• Cary Harris – Buffalo Bills, Round 6, No. 183 overall
• Kevin Ellison – San Diego Chargers, Round 6, No. 189 overall

Not a bad showing for USC.

yojoe Fight On!

USC Football: Joe McKnight At Full Strength

Joe McKnight arrived at USC with as much hype as any recruit in the nation.  He then suffered injuries and a case of the fumbles.  Now,

That’s why I was shocked to see Joe so, well, upbeat at practice Tuesday.

You could see it in his body language. In his first full practice of the spring, McKnight sprinted around the field, looking 100 percent for the first time since who knows how long. Then he was all smiles as he signed autographs to adoring fans, one after the other.

USC Football: Quarterback For 2009 Aaron Corp Is Named By Pete Carroll

It was a hard-fought battle in spring practice between Aaron Corp, Mitch Mustain, and Matt Barkley for the starting quarterback position for the Trojans.  See previous coverage, here, here, here, and, here.

WeAreSC is reporting,

Aaron Corp has been named the starting QB coming out of USC spring ball sessions with Matt Barkley as the back-up and Mitch Mustain in the #3 role.  The competition will continue into fall camp.

Pete Carroll had been clear that he wanted to name a starting quarterback by the end of spring and lately it had become pretty apparent that Corp would get that nod.  The freshman Barkley certainly put some pressure on but the fact that Corp did a great job of keeping on-field mistakes to a minimum (he didn’t have any interceptions through today) was a key factor in giving Corp the nod

With the loss of Mark Sanchez, this competition is great to see.

yojoe Fight On!

Fans Of The HBO Show The Wire Are About To Get A New Show

If you are, or were, a fan of The Wire you are in for some good news. David Simon, the creator of The Wire, has created a new show set in New Orleans: Treme.  Here is a description from The Times-Picayune,

“Treme,” named after the iconic New Orleans neighborhood where many musicians live, will marry one of television’s most prestigious networks with creator David Simon, one of television’s hottest series masterminds.

Simon created HBO’s the “The Wire,” which just completed a five-year run. While not a huge ratings success for the network, “The Wire” was one of the most critically acclaimed shows in television history.

Simon confirmed that HBO will film the first episode of “Treme,” possibly sometime later this year. If HBO gives the green light for more episodes, production would resume in 2009.

Burning Of Witches In Africa: Video Of Accused Witches Being Murdered

Until recently I was blissfully ignorant of the burning of suspected witches in Africa.  This is an unbelievable problem, and one that is not getting sufficient attention.  Apparently Kenya, specifically the area around Kisii, is plagued with witch burnings.

In May 2008, eleven people were burned to death,

The mob dragged them out of their houses and burned them individually and then set their homes alight, our correspondent says. Enoch Obiero, a Pentecostal minister, says the mob came to his door and dismembered his wife, a retired schoolteacher.

In February 2009, five people were burnt to death, (video below, caution the video is disturbing)

“They include four women and a man in their 80’s who were accused of having abducted a child,” Kisii deputy police Commander Manasseh Musyoka said yesterday.

This practice has been ongoing for some time in this area,

In 1993, eight elderly people from Kisii were also accused of witchcraft and burned to death in their huts by a mob.

These killings are not limited to the Kisii area, witch burnings have also occurred in the Malindi district of Kenya.  From the Daily Nation,

“I can confirm that seven elderly people have been lynched on suspicion of practicing witchcraft in my Gongoni Location in a relatively short time,” said district officer Patrick ole Ntutu.According to statistics from the local police station, at least 14 elderly people had been killed between last year and January in Magarini constituency alone. . . . In just two months, five elderly people have been hacked to death by gangs of youths purporting to be cleansing the villages of witchcraft.

A government official in Kenya commented on the burning of 15 women accused of being witches,

“This is unacceptable. People must not take the law into their own hands simply because they suspected someone,” said Mwangi Ngunyi, the head of Nyamaiya district. “We will hunt the suspects down,” he added.

Though he condemned vigilante acts, Mr. Ngunyi stated that the government will hunt the suspects down.  Suspects?  These people are suspected of being witches.  How in the world is the government going to “hunt” these people?  This also reveals that government officials believe in witchcraft.  What can possibly be done to stop these horrific murders if government officials believe in witches?

This is abhorrent and must be stopped.

A final word of caution: this video is graphic and disturbing.

yojoe out

USC Football: 2009 Quarterback Race Update III

From the USC BLOG, Matt Barkley is leading the USC quarterback race.

Here are the ratings for the three heading into practice No. 10 today:

1. Matt Barkley 142.36
2. Aaron Corp 130.26
3. Mitch Mustain 122.15

Rivals also notes that Barkley has a 10-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio, while Corp’s is 4-0.

yojoe Fight On!

The Story Of Former USC Quarterback Todd Marinovich

Esquire magazine has a story about former Trojan great Todd Marinovich, Todd Marinovich: The Man Who Never Was.  Trojan fans will remember Marinovich, or Marijuanavich, as the starting quarterback for the Men of Troy in the 1989 and 1990 seasons.  He was first freshmen quarterback ever named to the All-PAC 10 team and led USC to victory in the Rose Bowl against Michigan, sending Bo Schembechler into retirement with a loss in his final game.

Marinovich was also notable for being bread to be a quarterback by his father,

He has never eaten a Big Mac or an Oreo or a Ding Dong. When he went to birthday parties as a kid, he would take his own cake and ice cream to avoid  sugar and refined white flour. He would eat homemade catsup, prepared with honey. He did consume beef but not the kind injected with hormones. He ate only unprocessed dairy products. He teethed on frozen kidney. When Todd was one month old, Marv was already working on his son’s physical conditioning. He stretched his hamstrings. Pushups were next. Marv invented a game in which Todd would try to lift a medicine ball onto a kitchen counter. Marv also put him on a balance beam. Both activities grew easier when Todd learned to walk. There was a football in Todd’s crib from day one. “Not a real NFL ball,” says Marv. “That would be sick; it was a stuffed ball.”

Marinovich’s life did not turn out as planned.  His NFL career only lasted three years with the Raiders.  And things when down from there. He was most recently arrested, in April 2009, for failing to appear in drug court.

Somali Pirates Want Revenge Not Money

The Pirates of Somalia previously stated that all they wanted was money, because that is their business. Now, apparently the pirates want more than money, they want revenge,

“The aim of this attack was totally different. We were not after a ransom. We also assigned a team with special equipment to chase and destroy any ship flying the American flag in retaliation for the brutal killing of our friends.”

So much for the strategy of deterrence by payment.  For an excellent explanation of the problem of dealing with the Somali pirates, see Strategy Page,

Rey Maualuga Top Inside Linebacker In 2009 NFL Draft

According to Mike Mayock of NFL Network, former Trojan Rey Maualuga is the top inside linebacker prospect in the 2009 NFL Draft.

yojoe Fight On!

Mark Sanchez No. 1 Quarterback In 2009 NFL Draft

According to Mike Mayock of NFL Network, former Trojan Mark Sanchez is the top quarterback prospect in the 2009 NFL Draft.

yojoe Fight On!

Kenny Powers On Trusting Women

From Eastbound & Down

Kenny Powers,

“A lot of people say Kenny Powers is a woman hater. That’s not true. I love women, every f***ing one of them, even the ugly-as-sh** ones. But don’t ask me to trust them, not even nuns. Because every pair of ti** comes with a gaping hole of need that even Kenny Powers can’t fill.”

yojoe out

Vanity Fair Drops Green Issue

Apparently global warming does not pay,

Spring has sprung, and everything is going green. Everything, that is, except Vanity Fair, which has decided to ditch its annual “green issue”. For the past three years, the monthly glossy has made much of dedicating its May issue to the environment: from Leonardo DiCaprio posing on an iceberg to last year’s open letter from Robert Kennedy Jnr to the next president calling for action on global warming. This year, the incipient tradition has been quietly dropped.

yojoe out

Pakistan Wants Control Of U.S. Drones

With the number of drone strikes continuing in Pakistan,

Pakistan has made it clear both publicly and privately to the Untied States government that we are willing to take out high value terrorist targets on our own, and we welcome the technology and intelligence assistance that will give us the ability to succeed.  President Obama once said that he would act if we weren’t willing and able.  We certainly are willing, and with international support we will become even more able.  I am the President of Pakistan and I cannot condone violations of our sovereignty, even when they are done by allies and friends.  We would much prefer that the US share its intelligence and give us the weapons, drones and missiles that will allow us to take care of this problem on our own. President Obama has denied any such intentions to extend the use of drone attacks to Balochistan. These drone attacks are counter productive.

yojoe (in drone mode) out

Kenny Powers On Fighting

From Eastbound & Down

Kenny Powers, “I’m not going to stop yelling because that would mean I lost the fight!”

yojoe out

USC Football: 2009 Quarterback Race Update II

The latest from the always informative inside usc with scott wolf, the QB ratings for Tuesday, 7APR09, practice:

 

1. Aaron Corp
2. Mitch Mustain
3. Matt Barkley

USC Coach Pete Carroll on Aaron Corp,

“I don’t know what he sees it as. It’s motivation for me, I’m going to come out and keep slinging it and just get better at it. Hopefully they’ll give us the whole four weeks and I’ve just got to keep pushing. He didn’t specify what he meant by it so I’m taking it as nothing and keep working.

Coach Pete Carroll on Mitch Mustain,

One Of The Problems With The English Language: The Same Word Having Opposite Meanings

As observed in this VC post, contranyms should be avoided,

[T]he Court has sanctioned the use of speech as evidence in establishing that ….

Is that “sanctioned” in the sense of “approved” or in the sense of “punished” (a common use of the term “sanction” in litigation)? The reader should be able to figure this out from context, but it’s usually better not to put the reader to the work of having to do that, or risk even briefly leading the reader in the wrong direction.

A word I have always found vexing in the military context is “secure.”

Secure

USC Football: 2009 Quarterback Race Update

As previously reported, Aaron Corp was the frontrunner for the QB position for the Trojans.  He is followed by Mitch Mustain and Matt Barkley.  Corp is still holding on to that front spot,

He still looks a little deliberate at times throwing the ball, but his feet are a real asset. Defenses hate playing against mobile quarterbacks, and starting Corp would give Pete Carroll a weapon he never has had at USC.

yojoe Fight On!

Tim Floyd To Stay At USC

Arizona is looking to replace their basketball coach, and at one point were looking at USC Basketball Coach Tim Floyd.  He has declined.  Here is the statement by Mike Garrett:

We’re obviously delighted that Coach Floyd is staying. He’s such a tremendous asset to our program. He has done historic things at USC in his short time, getting us to three consecutive NCAA playoffs, winning 20 games for three straight years and capturing the Pac-10 Tournament title this year. And the future is very bright here under Tim’s direction.

yojoe Fight On!

USC Football: 2009 Quarterback Race

In January Mark Sanchez announced he would be leaving USC to enter the NFL.  This left a gaping hole at quarterback for the Trojans.  There are three possible players to fill that void. (No disrespect intended to the very athletic and talented Garrett Green).

• Aaron Corp – Class of 2007.  Saw limited play in 2008.
• Mitch Mustain – Class of 2006.  Transfer from Arkansas, where he had a number of starts in 2007.
• Matt Barkley –  Class of 2009.  True freshman from Mater Dei HS (same HS as Matt Leinart), where he was the only freshman to start in the modern era. 

Over at USCFOOTBALL.COM, they have devised a rating system to rank the quarterbacks during spring practice. 

As of 1APR09, Corp was followed by Mustain and Barkley. 

Dreadnaught’s prediction for 2009: Corp will be the starting quarterback.  For what it is worth, Mark Sanchez also thinks Corp will be the new quarterback for the Trojans.

yojoe Fight On!

USC Pro Day: Rey Maualuga 40 Time

College Football’s Scariest Defender, USC Trojan Rey Maualuga ran a great 40, despite a nagging hamstring injury.  At USC’s Pro Day Maualuga turned in a 40 time in the low 4.6 range.

Here are some other impressive 40 times clocked by Trojans, including a 4.60 by LB Clay Matthews.

yojoe Fight On!