Could there be a team more deserving of the moniker "Hollywood" than the USC Trojans? Sure, we've had people nicknamed "Hollywood" before — "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan (at least in his later years) for example — but a whole team earning the nickname? That's something new.
But it's hard to argue that USC isn't living in the spotlight — and enjoying every minute of it. You think Matt Leinhart doesn't love living in a spotlight so large he's ogled by women across the country and sought after by national fashion photographers and writers while attending movie premiers with Hollywood's elite? Or that Reggie Bush doesn't enjoy every minute national pundits drool over his game-breaking ability? Of course they do.
Go check out the school's athletic website — even their sports information department gets in on the action. Instead of taking the browser right to the front page of the site, a fan is greeted with a flash movie that opens with the words "Two-time defending national champions" and then goes on to show Leinhart, Bush and Co. flashing across the page in reverence of the program. It even shows their fearless leader, Pete Carroll, cheering with his USC record flashing in the background.
How many schools have the gall to do that? Not too many.
Even the way they play their games is like a Hollywood drama. Sure they toppled Oregon 45-13, but the Ducks caused plenty of drama with their early 13-0 lead and their 13-10 advantage at halftime.
The very next week against Arizona State, USC had their fans' hearts racing when they entered the break in an 18-point hole. Save for a miraculous 21-point outburst in the fourth quarter, reminiscent of Bobby Boucher's final quarter heroics in "The Waterboy," the Trojans wouldn't be sitting atop the national polls.
Two weeks later the cardiac-Trojans needed a lucky fumble out of bounds at the one-yard line to give them one last shot at the end zone against the Fighting Irish — a game they won 34-31.
Are you getting the general theme here? "Hollywood" is the perfect label for this Trojan squad, which is why it should come as no surprise to anyone that Carroll and the Trojans pulled what is perhaps the greatest Halloween joke in the history of sports.
I mean really, what coach pretends to get into an argument over playing time with one of his star players, running back LenDale White (the same player who actually argued with Carroll earlier this year over that exact issue), throws him out of practice, and then conspires with him to walk to the roof of a nearby building and have him pretend to throw himself off the roof? Not only that, but what coach does this without telling any of his fellow coaches or any members of his team, except for White?
I could see these kinds of antics from the Lou Brown's or Tony D'Amato's of the movie world — but from Carroll, no way. With a stunt like that, we're talking Academy Award for best script, and another award for best leading man.
Well, needless to say I underestimated Carroll's comic ability, which far exceeded any expectations I might have had. And let me just say — what a hysterical stunt it was. I laughed out loud for a good long time after seeing that stunt, and I'm still chuckling to myself about it right now.
Not only was it hysterical, but it was a beautifully devised backhanded slap at the media, who have been a nuisance to Carroll and his players since the beginning of the year.
From the coverage garnered by the report of White's argument with Carroll earlier this year over how many touches he was getting, you'd have thought Troy was falling all over again. Ditto for the early slip-ups against the aforementioned Ducks, Devils and Irish.
The fact of the matter is, no matter how much bad press or national attention this Trojans team receives, nothing seems to faze them. "Hollywood" is the right moniker for this team, but it works for them, and not only that, it's fun to watch. After all, if I have to pick a "Hollywood" to watch, I'll take a LenDale White doll falling from a building over Hogan any day.
