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Monday, September 8, 2008
Carroll ideal coach for Southern California
Southern Cal coach Pete Carroll has a lot to sell to recruits — great tradition, gorgeous weather, access to Hollywood, the Pacific Ocean and a program that attracts more celebrities to games than the rest of the nation combined.
But Carroll also deserves credit for USC’s resurgence. In a culture that promotes an easy-going lifestyle, Carroll is the perfect.
Unlike Ohio State’s Jim Tressel, who runs a tight ship — controlling most every aspect of his team — Carroll has always seemed like a practice-is-optional kind of guy.
“If you look at the two coaches, they’re different,” OSU cornerback Malcolm Jenkins said. “Coach Tressel is a laid-back guy, kind of conservative. He wears sweater vests and things like that.
“You look at the other coach, and he’s out there having fun with his guys. You can tell they’re more loose as far as how they play the games and how they prepare. They’re two styles of football, and both are successful. There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”
Jenkins insists he’s comfortable with Tressel’s way of doing things.
“That’s how my coaches have always been — pretty conservative. You say the right things, do the right things. … That’s all I know.
“I’m not sure if I would fit in USC’s program or not. I’m not saying anything is wrong with it, but it’s a lot different than what I’ve experienced.”
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Trash-talking Buckeyes, Trojans … kind of
Don’t expect to see a lot of bulletin-board material this week as we feed the OSU-USC hype machine. But in our quest to find something, anything, that qualifies as college football rivals ripping each other, we came up with the following tidbits.
Buckeye wide receiver Roy Small spouted off to ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg about USC. Small visited USC on a recruiting trip in high school.
“As I took my visit to USC, I’m like, ‘How are they successful? They’re not even serious about the game,’ ” Small said. “Before the game, they’re all going crazy. Me and (OSU defensive end) Rob Rose was on the visit and I’m looking like, ‘Wow.’ And then the coach said, ‘You better get out of here. It’s ‘bout to get hectic.’
“And then I come (to OSU) on the visit and before the game it’s all quiet, everybody getting taped, coaches talking. It’s the total opposite.”
Small’s parting shot: “Here at Ohio State, they teach you to be a better man. There, it’s just all about football.”
From the other sideline, we offer the comments of USC fullback Stanley Havili in Sporting News Today. When asked about the Buckeyes defense, he said:
“Obviously they’re great. Their linebackers are physical and fast. Their defensive speed is very impressive. They’re smart football players.
“But from what I’ve watched, they’re not anything more special or on a higher scale than what we face in practice with our ones.”
OK, maybe some bad grammar by both players, but nothing off the charts. And you could argue that Havili’s comments are extremely positive, because Southern Cal’s defense probably could shut down the Bengals.
Maybe Jim Tressel will say that the Trojans are overrated and predict a 30-point OSU win. Maybe not.
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$5,000 to see Ohio State-USC game?
A quick check of Stub Hub’s web site this morning reveals that there are thousands of tickets for the OSU-USC game on the market. In fact, the number of available tickets on the site jumped from 3,470 to 3,485 in about 30 seconds.
Tickets on the 50-yard line are going for as much as $5,000 apiece. That’s where the Hollywood types will sit. If you’re from the Midwest, you might be snapping up the seats in the upper corner going for a cool $127.50.
Talked to local attorney Anne Frayne today. She’s going to the game, and she’s taking her two sons. What a great mom! She bought tickets for $285 apiece up high in the end zone. Face value was $75, so that’s not bad.
Anne will also see the sites — Hollywood, Disneyland, Santa Monica Beach — and says “I’m going to wear Buckeye attire everywhere I go.”
Good luck, Anne.
