Mar 11, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans coach Steve Sarkisian at spring practice at Howard Jones Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
To get from UCLA to USC via Los Angeles freeways, you hop on the 405 South for a quick jaunt, head to the 10 East for about 11 miles, then take a couple cross-streets for a few moments. However, at some point during the journey, you apparently enter another universe.
As you guys and gals might have heard, curious things are going on across town this week:
#USC announces that Josh Shaw admitted he lied about how he suffered his ankle injuries and is suspended indefinitely.
— Lindsey Thiry (@LindseyThiry) August 27, 2014
USC's Josh Shaw aggressively confronted by teammate in locker room to "come clean" http://t.co/3FFn9GjQrb pic.twitter.com/YVbI8IPoSA
— TMZ (@TMZ) August 28, 2014
So USC's Anthony Brown (or someone posing as him) is alleging on IG that Sark treated him like a slave. What? pic.twitter.com/zJlQr3AGER
— ✨Trenise Ferreira✨ (@TreniseFerreira) August 28, 2014
I'm sure USC compliance will have to spend some time checking out this post, too: pic.twitter.com/VadoLvVGf4
— Kane "The Conqueror" Webb (@FightOnTwist) August 28, 2014
Here is Anthony Brown's facebook post: "Couldn't play for a racist man!" pic.twitter.com/VQTkrk1sT8
— Ryan Abraham (@insidetroy) August 28, 2014
Needless to say, USC is under siege from the local and national media as it suffers through the PR Week From Hell. ESPN’s SportsCenter went so far as to call USC a “clown college” live on the air:
USC’s culpability in creating these PR firestorms is debatable; certainly, Steve Sarkisian had no interest in dealing with the Josh Shaw and Anthony Brown issues in the days immediately preceding the Trojans’ first game of the season this Saturday against Fresno State.
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However, regardless of whether or not USC wanted to deal with these distractions, they are very real and have damaged the football program’s credibility considerably. Social media has piled on in its amusement and amazement, as they see USC as an on-going soap opera that continues to deliver stunning turn after stunning turn:
#USC players have: 4 HCs in the past 12 MOs; seen a tm captain publicly go from hero to punchline & had a new HC called a racist by a player
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) August 28, 2014
In span of five days at USC: AD was hospitalized, senior captain was a national hero then liar, senior RB quits team, calls coach a racist.
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) August 28, 2014
I kind of want to go eat lunch, but I am afraid some more crazy #USC news will break if I do.
— Ryan Abraham (@insidetroy) August 28, 2014
USC Football might as well hire O.J. as a consultant just to complete the trifecta for the week.
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) August 28, 2014
New year, new soap opera for USC. Unreal.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) August 28, 2014
Clearly it's time to predict the next ridiculous news to come out of USC. My guess: the entire secondary is part of a Soviet spy ring.
— Bruin Report Online (@BruinReport) August 28, 2014
Contrast the circus at Heritage Hall with the news coming out of the Morgan Center:
Brett Hundley appears on second Sports Illustrated cover in three weeks: Another week, another Sports Illustra... http://t.co/n8bLZuy24M
— 12th Bruin (@12thbruin) August 13, 2014
Just watched The Drive on P12N (UCLA), great way to kick off season.
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) August 28, 2014
Jim Mora’s UCLA program stands out as a model of positivity, efficiency, and control. Any serious team issues Mora has had to confront, like the Torian White suspension and dismissal, have been dealt with deftly and internally. Any PR that has come out of Westwood has generally been positive. With Mora in charge, you get the feeling that adults are running the show for the True Blue and Gold.
None of this is meant to pile on our rivals across town. Lord knows they don’t need the help of Go Joe Bruin to look utterly absurd and attract unwelcome spotlight. However, the differences between UCLA and USC at the moment couldn’t be more stark: Mora’s program continues to roll ahead as a budding national darling, while Steve Sarkisian’s program is currently trying to find its rudder. Oh my, how times have changed.