Pete's Arboblog: Post-Signing Day Edition

from Pete Arbogast, the voice of the Trojans: It’s hard to believe that we are less than three weeks away from the first day of spring practice, I absolutely loved signing day watching the wall-to-wall coverage of all of thee high school kids putting on hats in front of adoring fans in their high school gyms. It all seems at once surreal, silly, fascinating and important. Great theatre. Our men did one helluva job just like last year, maybe even better when you consider that it’s the first full class in such a long time, the way it closed (just like last year) a return to owning Southern California, and, despite having a respectable class of their own, the worried looks on Ucla fans faces as they know they had their chance and now that door is about to close fast and hard again as we get back to normal. Especially intriguing was Roquan Smith, the kid from Georgia who was told nothing about his recruiter and DC being about to sign a contract with the Falcons, and then Ucla playing it of like it wasn’t really going to happen after he called them on their garbage. And in fact, the coach DID go. Beautiful. Maybe we should go after him and blue shirt the kid. By the way, I learned something new this recruiting season: what a ‘Blueshirt’ is! Also bad was the school that got a LOI from a recruit, only to call him and tell him they did not want him after all. The NCAA needs to change some rules to stop this sort of thing rom happening. I sort of like the guy who called in and said that once a LOI is faxed in, the player is fully committed, UNLESS the head coach, his lead recruiter or his position coach leave the school between LOI day and the first day he enrolls or participates in practice, then and only then can the player re-open his recruitment. Overall, everyone is flying high on SC right now, and while we have more depth and a good team returning (CBS has us ranked 3^rd in it’s pre-pre-season poll) we’ve still got some things to prove on the field. Any reasonable fan can see we will be very good. But so will 5 or 6 teams on our schedule be ranked in the top 20. Bring on spring football, let’s get started! While we’re at it, why don’t college team scrimmage against another school in the spring? By the way, I am guaranteeing we will be 2-0 to start the season. ** Long time ago, a basketball player with whom I was and am friends, told me a story of his recruitment to UNLV. He said on his trip he was met at the doors of a large casino by Jerry Tarkanian, who showed them around a bit, then introduced them to a couple of what The Shark called ‘influential boosters’. He said “I am leaving you in good hands, enjoy your night”, and left. The boosters said to my friend a the other two guys being recruited that night, “We’d love to be able to give you a lot of money so you could have fun in here, and tickets for shows and other fun things, but the NCAA won’t allow that sot of thing.” “But, if you happen to find money laying on the floor of the casino or anything else, it’s finders keepers, right boys?” With that, the men started to walk off and dropped several stacks of $100 bills on the floor for each kid. He was one of a kind, and you had to love the way he thumbed his nose at the power. ** Someone asked me today why the SC men’s basketball team was so bad. And I told him it isn’t bad, its just the youngest team in America, and while next year they ought to be just above .500, just wait, for in two years, this team ought to have the Galen Center filled and rockin’. ** I’m not sure I have written about the Super Bowl yet. IMHO no matter what they say otherwise, it was the worst call in football history. Period. Sorry Pete, I love ya, but really? Given the chance to go back in time and do it again, you would call it again? No. Too bad, cuz if they gave it to the Beast and he took it in, the catch a moment before would go down as one of the greatest lays in Super Bowl history. Instead we got the worst. ** Kings-Maybe, Ducks-deep, Clippers-troublesome, Lakers-lotto. ** Our men’s volleyball team looks awesome, tennis, too. Spring sports looks very promising. Hope baseball is good this year; it’s been far too long. ** Did you win the Powerball tonight? I have a few tickets I have not checked yet, but I’m guessing I didn’t either. If I do, I still want to do the games---but that might be about it for work related activities. Hope you got lucky. Half a billion! Man! ** My knee has healed as well is might ever, so I am beginning the long climb back into physical activity and hope to be svelter sooner than later. Fight On!