Rays Colored Glasses • 25th February 2021

Projecting the Rays Opening Day roster ahead of spring training

With a few days left before spring games officially kick off in North Port, let’s take a look at how the Tampa Bay Rays project out for 2021. It’s been nothing short of a super busy offseason in the Bay area which, truthfully, means that it really is business as usual. Trades, non-tenders, declined options, and some sneaky signings have the Tampa Bay Rays coming into an AL title defense with both key supporting cast members as well as face of the franchise stars wearing different uniforms. Wit

Daily Trojan • 23rd April 2020

The Point After: USC recruiting is back, and Clay Helton deserves some serious credit for it

Almost as quickly as it disappeared, it has returned once again. I don’t want to tempt the fates and gods of Southern California football, but I just have to say it: USC recruiting is officially back. After a yearlong hiatus that saw the program fall out of the national spotlight for at least 55 different reasons, the Trojans have returned solidly to form and have sent an unmistakable message to the college football world: USC is ready to “Take Back the West.” Cheesy recruiting slogans aside,

Daily Trojan • 8th April 2020

The Point After: Despite backlash, the NFL Draft must go on

Amid the fear, caution and social distancing surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, sports fans should be delighted to hear that the world’s most exciting corporate board meeting has been renewed for yet another season. Yes, the NFL Draft will continue as planned at the end of April and fans will finally have their long-standing need for live entertainment satiated by the most dramatic turn-based strategy game in the world of sports. The draft — undoubtedly one of the most popular sports events

Daily Trojan • 5th March 2020

The Point After: Despite all the rumors, USC should not (yet) leave the Pac-12

A revolution is coming to college football. It will come slowly, painfully and over the course of many generations of struggle and injustice, but a storm of revolt is set to hit the shores of the college football world. This wave of rebellion will come in a variety of forms: name, image, likeness rights, renewed television deals and potential alterations to the College Football Playoff. Above all, however, it will be the newest round of conference realignment that will set the tone for all the

Annenberg Media • 28th February 2020

View from the Stands: Arizona State is USC football’s biggest threat

Making the Twitter war even more enticing is the ties between both the programs and the coaches themselves. Prentice Gill and Chris Hawkins are both former Trojans: Gill worked for USC in various capacities from 2014-2018, and Hawkins played safety on the team from 2013-2017 and served as a graduate assistant in 2019. Gill and Williams even served on the same staff a year ago at Oregon before taking jobs down South.

Daily Trojan • 20th February 2020

The Point After: Men’s hoops needs to win this month to buck the trend

Like a lazy Tuesday night on FX, we have all seen this movie before. USC basketball flexes its recruiting might, touts a number of the West’s brightest young stars, banks on the promise of a nice record and an opportunity for the seizing — then the wheels fall off completely. Over the past few years, USC has managed to avoid qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in often painful fashion. After a nice run in 2016-17 that left the Trojans just short of the Sweet 16, USC was snubbed from the tournam

Annenberg Media • 13th February 2020

View from the Stands: USC’s biggest recruit isn’t a player

Steele was distinctly excited by the hiring, as he and Williams both share plenty of Oregon connections. At one time a verbal commit to Oregon after announcing his transfer from Florida, Steele and Williams both find themselves at USC in order to take care of or ease the burden on their families. For Steele, Williams was likely a critical reason he had considered going to Oregon last summer and thus has been welcomed by the standout sophomore with open arms.

Daily Trojan • 6th February 2020

The Point After: USC football is in turbulence after National Signing Day

Many times, football sense and common sense are aligned. In these moments, fans, coaches and players alike are unified in rational thinking around the game of football. From Marshawn Lynch running the ball on the 2-yard line to USC firing head coach Clay Helton, there is often something beautiful about rational observers unifying in agreement over events that should have happened. In many of these situations — such as the latter described above — the decision makers in the locker room and front

Annenberg Media • 30th January 2020

View from the Stands: USC needs to bolster its poor recruiting class through the transfer portal

Due in great part to turnover at defensive coordinator, changes in the athletic department and, most notably, distrust in head coach Clay Helton and the program’s general direction, USC is no longer seen by many as the blue-chip brand it has been in the past. Former Heisman running back and spiritual face of the program Reggie Bush put it best in December when he asked “What is Oregon State selling that USC can’t?” after the Trojans came out of early signing day last in the Pac-12 in many popula

Daily Trojan • 23rd January 2020

Likely Orlando hiring unlikely to sit well with Trojan faithful

It appears that the only slam dunks coming from USC these days are at the hands of superstar freshman forward Onyeka Okongwu, and while I deeply admire the way that USC basketball has quietly turned into a pacific powerhouse this season, it’s clear that its football counterparts can hardly get an easy win with Trojan fans lately. As the dust settled and celebrations ceased after the Trojan basketball team’s dramatic 21-point comeback win over a tough Stanford team at Galen Center last Saturday,

Daily Trojan • 23rd April 2019

The Point After: USC football fails to breed top picks at the pro level

The NFL Draft is the sports event of the year. Don’t get me wrong, I live for the NHL playoffs, count the days until the start of college football season and will watch all or part of at least 130 Tampa Bay Rays games each year. I am nothing if not a well-balanced sports fan, but there is nothing quite like the NFL Draft. This time of year captivates the curious fan. The armchair GMs, a bevy of mock drafts, supposed “insider” information about every team’s draft plans — ’tis the season for spe

Daily Trojan • 9th April 2019

The Point After: AAF was a good idea but poorly executed

When former general manager Bill Polian initially decided to create a professional football league, he did not set out to dethrone the National Football League. A former ESPN analyst, Super Bowl champion and one of the brightest minds in the sport, Polian understood that the Alliance for American Football was never meant to be a replacement for the face of America’s Game. Instead, the league looked to position itself as a strong complement to the sporting mega-giant. But on April 2, the AAF of

Daily Trojan • 26th March 2019

The Point After: Hockey’s playoffs are the best postseason

In just a few short weeks, the greatest spring tradition in sports will begin again. March Madness, the NFL Draft, NBA postseason and MLB opening day are all fun, but nothing in this sweet world can match the drama, highs and lows and pure, unadulterated adrenaline of the National Hockey League playoffs. To some, the NHL playoffs only appeal to Canadians and are overshadowed by the massive headlines and audiences garnered by the NBA postseason. In reality, the NHL playoffs are the greatest dem

Daily Trojan • 5th March 2019

The Point After: MLB must do more to modernize free agency

Hall of Famer Jim “Catfish” Hunter had one of the most prolific careers of any pitcher in professional baseball history. A five-time World Series champion, eight-time All-Star, Cy Young Award winner and one of 23 pitchers with a perfect game, Hunter did it all with a level of skill and wit that has been reached by few, if not none, since. In addition to his magnificent play on the diamond and extremely decade-appropriate ’70s mustache, Catfish Hunter busted open a door of economic freedom never

Daily Trojan • 12th February 2019

The Point After: NFL should consider expansion to London

There is hardly anything more American in this world than the combination of wings, beer and football. Most Sundays throughout the fall, millions of Americans like me crowd around our television sets around 1 p.m. EST and begin the three to eight-hour long odyssey of drama and intrigue, success and failure that occurs around the nation. While I was gladly able to enjoy my fall afternoons binging “Red Zone” and watching my fantasy football team ascend to the highest peaks, my experience with th

Daily Trojan • 29th January 2019

The Point After: USC football has reached threat level midnight

As the Trojans marched off the field at the Coliseum on Nov. 24 later after another heartbreaking 24-17 loss — the team’s seventh of the season — to archrival Notre Dame, there was certainly a belief amongst the USC faithful that this was the point at which the team had bottomed out. A season that would end with no bowl game for the first time since 2011 and four rivalry losses (five including Texas), the program fell from the leader of the West to the laughing stock of the nation’s worst Power

Daily Trojan • 27th November 2018

The Point After: Swann alienates fanbase with Helton choice

For the overwhelming amount of USC fans, the present is truly all that matters. The football team is 5-7, recruits have begun to balk on commitments, the team is playing as bad as it has in this millennium, fans are refusing to show up to games — producing record low attendance numbers — and head coach Clay Helton is standing in the center of this inferno. After a day which a plane flew overhead pleading to Athletic Director Lynn Swann to — “Please Fire Clay Helton,” the Trojans put on a valian

Daily Trojan • 13th November 2018

The Point After: If USC's devastating loss isn’t a wake up call, then nothing will be

For the second straight home game, the football team not only managed to lose, but also did so in truly embarrassing fashion. While the concept of what is “embarrassing” has been defined and redefined countless times this season, Saturday’s 15-14 loss to Cal was truly a new low for USC. A Week 2 loss to Stanford, in which the Trojans managed just 3 points against a Stanford defense that would go on to allow 40 points at home to Utah and Washington State, was embarrassing. Seeing a 14-3 lead t

Daily Trojan • 30th October 2018

The Point After: Frustration with USC football is starting to show

Since the moment he was officially announced as USC football’s 25th head coach in November 2015, Clay Helton has dealt with a seemingly endless flood of doubt, criticism and direct calls for his termination. Sure, anyone who takes a major head coaching job in college or professional sports is disposed to scrutiny, but few have felt the burns from being under the magnifying glass of public opinion quite like Helton. Time and time again, Helton has found some way to settle down a fanbase and cit

Daily Trojan • 16th October 2018

The Point After: Gustin’s leadership will be missed

In pretty much every respect, Saturday night was a major victory for USC football. In a season tarnished by turmoil, berated by bad breaks and filled with calls for the heads of nearly everyone in the front office, a win at home over a ranked, previously undefeated Colorado squad could prove to be a major turning point in the team’s 2018 fortunes. With that said, USC was still left with a deep, lasting scar from the Pac-12 battle in the Coliseum when defensive captain senior linebacker Porter G