Emerald Bowl tonight!

Tonight is the Emerald Bowl! Big excitement! This year, the Emerald Bowl is hosting the almighty Trojans of the University of Southern California, and some team from the east. Oh, wait, that's right, it's the Eagles of Boston College. I have a fair degree of respect for Boston College, since my sister went there, and I have decided not to engage in any trash talking about USC's opponent this year, in the spirit of humility required of USC fans at the end of this dismal season.

For those unaware, USC finished the year 8-4, which is a complete disaster. We did not win the PAC-10 conference championship, so we are not going to the Rose Bowl, let alone the BCS national championship game. But this is, I suppose, to be expected - with great success comes occasional failure.

Personally, I think of it this way: The Lakers and the Yankees both won championships, so I think I maxed out on my personal sports karma for the year. The Red Wings didn't win a championship, and the Redskins are playing like pathetic wimps. But I'll take two championships in one year, even if it means I have to sacrifice USC playing in the Rose Bowl.

But I am going to feel sorry for Boston College tomorrow.

Notre Dame, Obama, the Roman Catholic Church, USC, and abortion

President Obama has been invited to speak at Notre Dame at their commencement. He will be receiving an honorary degree. That's great. Very nice. Presidents speak at commencements all the time, and receive honorary degrees all the time. Perfectly normal.

Except that Obama supports a woman's right to choose an abortion, which conflicts with the doctrine of the Catholic Church. That's a bummer for some right-wing Catholics, who have stated their opposition. Unfortunately for them, 97% of the graduating class of seniors support giving Obama an honorary degree. Of course, the fact that George W. Bush supports the death penalty, which also conflicts with Catholic doctrine, didn't stop the university from inviting him and giving him an honorary degree.

My favorite part of the debate came in one of the letters to the editor in the NY Times. The letters were in response to an Op-Ed piece by Richard Allen (Reagan's National Security Advisor), who opposes giving the degree to Obama. Notre Dame gave a degree to Reagan when he spoke. Most of the letters disagreed with Allen, for the same reason I just listed. Then there was this letter, from a member of the Notre Dame class of 1958:

Next the traditionalists will want to vet the orthodoxy of Notre Dame’s quarterbacks. Well, maybe not if we’re 11 to zip and U.S.C. is coming to town.

Damn right! Orthodoxy would be out the window in a heartbeat if Notre Dame were playing like the pathetic losers they have been for the past couple of years and one of the best teams in college football were on their way (the USC-Notre Dame rivalry is one of the great rivalries in the country, because they are two of the only large private schools in the country. Neither is a state school, which is unusual for schools of their size. USC plays Notre Dame every season). Notre Dame hates losing to USC. There's a little bit of the Midwest-Southern California rivalry thing going on, too.

So I managed to get Obama, abortion, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, the NY Times, and USC football into one blog post! It's a good day.

USC beats BC!

USC beat Boston College in the NCAA Men's Tournament, 72-55. Fight on! The almighty Trojans are on a roll! Here's how the LA Times described it:

A jump shot by [Taj] Gibson with 12:50 remaining in the game gave the Trojans the lead for good, 46-44, and USC pulled away by dominating every phase of the game. (emphasis added, because it needed to be)

Gibson was 10-for-10, which is the second best perfect performance in the history of the NCAA tournament with at least 10 attempts.

Remember, what's good for USC is good for America, because all great trends start in Los Angeles, and what is good for USC is good for Los Angeles. For anyone who is looking for some hope in this economic climate, this may be it.

USC vs. Boston College

Big game tonight - the University of Southern California, the almighty Trojans, take on the Boston College Eagles in March Madness! We're hoping for an upset, and Sports Illustrated is, too. USC is on a roll! We won the PAC-10 Tournament! Woo hoo!

The definition of a good day: USC 65, UCLA 55

Miracle of miracles, wonder of wonders, USC beat UCLA in basketball, 65-55 in the semifinals of the Pac 10 tournament. USC is now in the finals of the Pac 10 tournament! We are playing Arizona State today.

Can I get an Amen! USC traditionally dominates football in LA, while UCLA dominates basketball. UCLA was ranked 15, USC was unranked. UCLA is already in March Madness, while USC will get in if they beat Arizona today and clinch the regional championship, and might get in if they come close. The best part of the game was that USC was in the lead for the entire game. It was never even tied. Never even tied. USC must have wanted it real bad. Good for them.

We also beat Cal in this tournament, which is icing on the cake.

I watched the game at a bar in the Valley. I was there with a friend who is a West Virginia fan. We had some hopes that they might beat Syracuse, particularly since the Orangemen were coming off of the second-longest game in NCAA Div. I history, but the Mountaineers went cold in OT, and couldn't defend in the paint. Still, it was a good game.

I only watched the first half of the USC-UCLA game, because we were up at halftime, and I wanted to savor the feeling (I also had to get home). But we won! Now I'm sorry I missed it.

Of course, the true story of basketball in LA is the Lakers, who are steamrolling the West and most of the rest of the league. But last night, it was all about the Trojans.

Rose Bowl today!

Today is the Rose Bowl. USC vs. Penn State. It will be a sad day for the people from Happy Valley, Pennsylvania. The entire world expects the University of Southern California Trojans to be triumphant.

In the first quarter, USC scores first! 27 yard touchdown pass by Matt Sanchez! Woo hoo!

Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor

Obama has chosen Hilda Solis as his Secretary of Labor. She is currently a US Representative from East LA. I haven't been commenting much about Obama's cabinet picks, partially because they've been coming fast and furious, partially because I pretty much agree with them.

Solis' nomination is notable for me for a couple of reasons. First, obviously, she comes from LA. Second, at a moment when the UAW, bastion of white American male manufacturing prowess, is in deep trouble, there is something telling that Obama chose a Secretary of Labor about as from the UAW, geographically and demographically, as possible. That deserves a deeper look, but not now.

Harold Meyerson, former executive editor of the LA Weekly, wrote a nice piece about Solis in the LA Times. He compares her with Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor. He also provides some explanation for why Solis was chosen, and what it means for the future of labor. The labor movement is alive and well in LA, and is, in some part, being driven by Latinas. The head of the LA County Federation of Labor is Maria Elena Durazo.

But the most important thing about Hilda Solis, as far as I am concerned, and the best possible indication of her future greatness, is that she has a Master's degree from the University of Southern California!

Barack Obama's cabinet is finally complete - gotta have a Trojan in the house!



On a personal note, this is my 7ooth post.

No Obama news today

There is no news about Barack Obama today. There wasn't any news yesterday (Saturday) either. He didn't hold a press conference, there weren't any announcements about staffing, no policy discussions that I can find, other than the normal chatter.

For this brief moment of quiet and rest, I am immensely thankful. Way to chill out, Mr. President-Elect. I am going to take a cue from The Man Himself and refrain from thinking deep thots or dreaming big. How long this will last - 2 hours? 12 hours? A day? is anyone's guess. This respite from politics might even last into early in the week, say, Monday afternoon.

Of course, I'm going to a wedding celebration later today for an old college friend who got me into the Obama campaign, so I don't know if this period of quiet will really last.The wedding was in August, but the groom, who is my friend, postponed the celebration until after the election - he was one of the data managers in California, so he was working insane unpaid hours.

I have a classical music station on (a Sunday morning ritual), KUSC. Which reminds me: USC beat Cal yesterday, and therefore just about nailed Rose Bowl berth, if not a shot at the national title game.

Thank goodness for the right distraction at the right time. Go Trojans!

USC film school in the NY Times

There's one group of college students who have a unique perspective on guns and school: film school students. People in film school occasionally make movies about people with guns. That creates some interesting situations. What if you're filming somebody running down a dark alley holding a gun, a bystander walks by, doesn't realize it's a film set, and calls the cops? That's not a hypothetical for me - it has happened to me. It wasn't on a student film, it was an independent film (VERY independent), but the cops were called. We were warned to skedaddle, which we did. I wasn't producing or directing - I was basically the only crew member besides the director, who was shooting everything on a video camera, so I was gaffer, if that. The director had graduated from USC film school, but apparently hadn't learned the right lessons. Eventually he did.

This is relevant because this week there was an Op-Ed piece in the NY Times by a student at School of Cinematic Arts of the University Southern California, where I learned a few things, had some adventures, and made some great friends.

The topic of the Op-Ed is trying to find the balance between safety and freedom, which is a complicated, difficult topic that I don't want to address right now. I'm just thrilled that a really good guy that I know, Joe Wallenstein, got a mention on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times. Good for him.

I'm rooting for Memphis

It's down to the Final Four in the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament, and it's all the No. 1 seeds! Personally, I'm rooting for Memphis, because they beat Texas, and I am still bitter about Texas beating USC in the Rose Bowl in the last 19 seconds. I still have to pay off the bet that I lost to brother-in-law on that one. The bet is that I have to wear a Texas t-shirt when I visit he and my sister. Which I still have to do. I actually have the t-shirt, fortunately. When I ordered it, I got the wrong size - they sent me a small. I didn't think they sold t-shirts in size "small" in Texas, but I guess they do.

I'm also rooting for Memphis because they are playing UCLA in the Final Four, and I root for whoever plays UCLA. In my last post about Kareem, I said that I would root for UCLA for one game. Which I did. I have to admit that I did it rather quietly, and didn't tell my co-worker, Sherri, who went to UCLA. But I rooted for them in my heart. But now they are close to another national championship, and that is the last thing that UCLA needs. UCLA has 100 national sports championships, and they were the first to 100. That's enough! Fortunately, the Olympics are coming up, and USC dominates American colleges in Olympics glory - we've won at least one gold medal in every summer Olympics since 1912.

But for now, go Memphis!