USC FOOTBALL: BLACK OUT ON THE GRIDIRON AND MORE...

While the success of USC Football in the Pete Carroll era has put the Athletic Department in the black, the team itself remains solidly in the red or actually cardinal.

Despite black USC football jerseys selling like hot cakes, Carroll and Athletic Director Mike Garrett have rung up a NO SALE on fans clamoring to have the Trojans actually don the black jerseys for one of their games.

Citing the proud tradition of Cardinal and Gold, Carroll and Garrett have refused to be swayed by all the noise, and the Trojans will remain in Cardinal for all of their home games.

So, if you want to root for a team in black jerseys, may I suggest the Oakland Raiders.  The color is appropriate since they are on a Death March to their sixth straight losing season.

Notes from Virginia

The word from USC’s advance crew in Charlottesville is that most Virginia fans are not expecting an upset this weekend. Could poor recruiting be a major reason?

When a the local L.A. radio station that carries all the Trojan games tried to set up an interview with Virginia head coach Al Groh, Virginia’s Sports Information Director didn’t exactly sound enthused.

He seemed to feel it didn’t matter because Virginia doesn’t try to recruit in Southern California.

Wait a minute! They don’t even try to recruit in So Cal. It’s only the Mecca of high school recruits, along with Texas and Florida. Maybe they should hire me. I’d be willing to give them a hand.

It has been raining today in Charlottesville, and thunderstorms and showers are expected tomorrow. However, the prediction for Saturday is USC by 19½. Oops, wrong prediction! Partly cloudy with a high of 84. That could be the over-under as well.

Virginia fans should get out there and do some rain dancing or hire some crop dusters to seed the clouds. What they need is rain and lots of it.

Though Mark Sanchez has been given the all-clear by doctors, his football skills and conditioning are both a little rusty after his nearly three-week layoff. He threw two interceptions at practice yesterday.

Perhaps, some rain might increase the rust and the Cavaliers ability to do some damage against the nation’s Number 1-3 ranked team, depending on which poll you read.

For all the latest news on the Trojans and their trip to Virginia be sure to read Ben Malcolmson’s blog at USCRipsIt.com.