By Sourena VasseghiWith Rich Finley
USCRipsIt Guest Bloggers
There's one word that sums up my sports weekend: Frustrating. The ONLY bright spot was watching our Trojans keep the streak alive against Notre Dame in Saturday's thrilling 34-27 victory. Of course, it really shouldn't have been that close, and while the prospect of the Irish scoring and then going for two for the win (you know Weis was thinking it) was a little scary there, the defense held tough and USC held on, which seemed to be the theme for the rest of the big boys in college football, save for Virginia Tech, who lost to Georgia Tech.
But Florida and Texas both somehow, and I really don't know how, survived this weekend, in games that made both teams look worse than they were a year ago. I'll tell you about my Saturday. I woke up shortly into the Oklahoma/Texas game with the Sooners up 6-0, yet playing without reinjured QB Sam Bradford. With their leader gone, Oklahoma couldn't take care of the ball (not that Texas was much better) and the Horns seemed to outlast them more than overtake them.
For the USC/ND game, I was at a friend's house party. Now, I have had all USC road games at my place this season and was a little nervous I was tempting fate, but while Matt Barkley was throwing for 380 yards in such a harsh environment, I wasn't too concerned.
What had me fascinated was in the other room. See, my friend had two TVs set up, one outside in his backyard showing USC, and the other one in the house showing Florida/Arkansas. I was getting antsy because I couldn't stop thinking about the big upset that was going down in Gainesville. It was beautiful. Florida was being exposed as not being as focused, and physical as they have been lauded to be in recent years, and this loss was sure to vault the Trojans higher in the standings and firmly into the national championship picture. Well, the upset wasn't meant to be. Say what you will about Florida, but they made the plays when they absolutely needed them, and survived a fantastic effort by Arkansas. It kinda felt like a loss, even as USC ended Notre Dame's comeback bid on a great goal line stand.
The point is, if the Trojans continue to take care of business, everything will work itself out in the end. The initial BCS standings were laughable this past weekend, but everyone, USC included, has tough games ahead, so we'll see what happens. But a little help from my second favorite school: The Anyone Playing Against a Higher Ranked Team University is much appreciated!
While we're on the subject of help, could someone please send a plane to St. Louis to pick up the Dodgers? Because I haven't seen them since they beat the Cardinals in the NLDS and I'm starting to worry about them. Are they stuck in a balloon just hovering over Philadelphia somewhere? Are they hiding in a box? Is Joe Torre staging an elaborate hoax? I'm worried we're going to turn on the Today Show and Matt Lauer is going to hold up pictures of Dodger bats that say "Have you seen us?" And the answer of course, is no, no we have not.
That's all for now, really looking to this weekend's game. We owe you big-time, Oregon State. Fight On!
• Sourena Vasseghi, a motivational speaker and writer, has addressed the USC football team on several occasions over the years. His book, "Love your life and it will love you back," is available here.
