In June, the NCAA dealt the USC football program an Ali-level punch to the face: four years of probation, the loss of 30 scholarships over three years and a two-year bowl ban.

The sanctions left the Trojans depleted in terms of numbers (they’re down to 70 scholarships) and talent (top recruit Seantrel Henderson jumped ship in favor of Miami), but their spirit was hardly broken. Emboldened by the naysayers and energized by the dawn of the Lane Kiffin era, they began training camp stronger than ever. Matt Barkley looked polished and confident, Ronald Johnson ran roughshod over the secondary, and the defensive line appeared as formidable as any in the country.

A month later it’s a different story altogether.

Injuries, suspensions and disappointing performances have deflated the Trojans to the point that their first team offense could barely beat the scout team on Thursday.

Gone is the offensive swagger of early camp, when Johnson and freshman tailback Dillon Baxter looked as unstoppable as the Trojans of old. Gone is the endearing confidence of projected starter Allen Bradford, who, thanks to a knee injury, will likely be replaced by Marc Tyler when the Trojans open the season on Sept. 2 against Hawaii. And gone to injury are offensive guards Khaled Holmes and Butch Lewis (tackle Matt Kalil only recently returned from a hamstring injury), leaving an already threadbare offensive line even thinner.

Holmes and Lewis figure to return soon but it’s clear the injury bug has struck the Trojans, and it doesn’t appear to be leaving any time soon. No matter how many non-contact practices Kiffin runs, there always seems to be someone new going down – case in point: Hayes Pullard.

Much like the injury bug, team distractions have been frequent during training camp for the Trojans.

First, senior fullback Stanley Havili got into a fight with teammate T.J. Bryant that resulted in Bryant’s left cheekbone being broken – Havili was briefly suspended but returned to the team. Then Baxter, the heralded youngster who went off like a firecracker in spring practice, was caught violating dorm rules and suspended for the first game of the season. As if Kiffin needed any more headaches after the sanctions, the transfers and the Kennedy Pola fallout.

All of which adds up to a bedraggled stumble onto the island of Hawaii, rather than the beach storming Kiffin would most certainly have preferred.

Make no mistake, the Trojans’ defensive line – led by Jurrell Casey, Nick Perry, Armond Armstead and Hebron Fanguapo – is still a monster, and the secondary is much improved with the return of shutdown corner Shareece Wright and the emergence of freshman Nickell Robey. But the offense just is not where it should be.

Barkley, as much as he has improved, seems out of sync. Freshman receiver Robert Woods is talented but young and therefore making rookie mistakes. Bradford is a shell of his early camp self thanks to the knee injury. Even RoJo, who evoked Heisman whispers with his early camp dominance, has been out of sorts lately, catching just three passes for 38 yards on Thursday.

The USC offense isn’t just rich with game-changing athletes, they’re Mikhail Prokhorov rich. But that talent margin just isn’t transferring to the field right now. The Trojans have been flat at best, mediocre at worst.

The energy simply isn’t there, and Lane Kiffin will be the first one to tell you that.

That doesn’t necessarily mean USC is going to have a bad season – their 13-game schedule is not a difficult one; outside of Oregon, Oregon St., Washington and Notre Dame they play relatively easy opponents – but it does mean fans should temper their expectations. Dreams of an undefeated season are pipe-like at best. Anyone who has seen this offense lately will tell you it certainly doesn’t look like it belongs to the 14th-best team in the nation.

After the trophies were stripped and the wins vacated, USC looked primed for a triumphant comeback season. Now that reality has set in, however, the light at the end of the tunnel hardly looks as bright for the beleaguered Trojans.

Patrick Crawley is the sports editor for Neon Tommy and the managing editor of Basketball Fiend. Follow him on Twitter at @BasketballFiend.

Yahoo! Sports is reporting that University of Southern California basketball coach Tim Floyd made a cash payment to a man that helped bring O.J. Mayo to the Trojans.

Unprovoked snitch Louis Johnson told NCAA investigators, the FBI, the IRS, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office that Tim Floyd directly gave OJ Mayo associate Rodney Guillory $1000. You probably remember Guillory as the guy Johnson put on blast the first time around.

The LA Times is taking the wait and see approach (Because they didn’t break the story) but they still say these allegations will be big trouble for Floyd.

If the NCAA finds truth in this and other allegations previously made by Johnson, USC could be hit with major sanctions, including forfeitures of victories, probation, a ban on postseason play, the loss of television appearances or scholarship and recruiting restrictions.

I hope it was worth it SC. Somewhere, University of Arizona officials are smiling. And thanking Jesus.

Source: Floyd gave cash to Mayo handler [Yahoo! Sports]

Did USC’s Tim Floyd pay for O.J. Mayo? [Los Angeles Times]

What’s going on everyone…the name is HalfCourtHeave, the man who runs the randomly updated blog HalfCourtHeave. I will be posting over here at YouBeenBlinded during the evenings…One of the daily posts I will be contributing is called The Postwork Recap.

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Welcome To The Postwork Recap.  Every day, I will posting about the biggest news in the sportsworld here.  That way, you can actually be productive at work, then when you get out of the office you can grab a beer and make your way to YouBeenBlinded.

Jaguars’ Collier Shot - Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Richard Collier was shot and critically wounded sitting outside of a building waiting for a woman around early Tuesday morning.  The motive behind the attack was still unknown, but the investigation continues.

Jamacians implicated in steriod ring - Fortunetly for the Olympics and any sports fan it wasn’t Usain Bolt.  In documents obtained by SI, The documents state that between June 2006 and February 2007, two shipments of Somatropin (Human Growth Hormone, HGH) and one shipment of Triest (Estrogen) were sent to Delloreen London and Adrian Findlay.  What gets me, is they used their actual names, your cheating the IOC and the Olympic games, and you are going to use your real names and birthdays!

USC now #1 - USC after an impressive blowout of Virgina is now #1 in the AP polls.  God I hate USC…God I hate USC…God I hate USC…that’s all.

Tyrod Taylor is not redshirtting after all - So it took all of 1 game…1 game (a loss to ECU)…for coach Frank Beamer to remove Taylor’s redshirt.  Sean Glennon must feel like a winner today.  This is the right move though (albeit he is correcting his own WRONG decision), Taylor being able to play in the games instantly makes VT much better.

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There you have it, see you guys tomorrow for another Postwork Recap…look on the brightside, at tomorrow is already hump day!

This Steve Spurrier press conference is following a 51-31 beatdown from Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators at South Carolina’s Williams-Brice stadium in November. Tebow had seven total touchdowns and as you heard, he rushed for five. And that’s with Spurrier talking to the team about not letting Tebow run the ball in. He should’ve saved his breath.

Steve Spurrier, South Carolina, Tim Tebow, video, youtube

Photographers were keeping up with Kim Kardashian when they snapped this picture of her with Reggie Bush. No big deal.. Reggie and his girl talking at a gas station on Robertson in Los Angeles… Well take a look at the rest of the gallery.. Notice anything? Reggie Bush is only in this picture. Where the hell was he the rest of the time?

I wouldn’t be a true blogger if I didn’t recklessly speculate, so Reggie Bush

• only showed up to give Kim a pound.
• was in the gas station bathroom “clearing some room under the cap” the rest of the time.
• gave Kim $100 to fill up her Range Rover.
• asked Kim for $100.
• is getting Kim Kardashian to run a name for him.
• just finished washing her windshield.
• is the kush hook-up.
• is selling his new cd.

Who the hell knows? Maybe they just wanted to meet up and do the E.T. phone home thing or maybe the question was ‘Which one of us is more overrated?’.

Tags: Reggie Bush, Kim Kardashian, Pictures, NFL

We’ve all gotten some bad gifts in our lifetime, and we’re a few weeks away from getting a few more. When you open the box with the ugly sweater that’s too small, or you get some cassettes as a stocking stuffer, be thankful. It coulda been worse. It coulda been Christmas eve 1992 and mom and dad got you a Todd Marinovich jersey. Nevermind the fact that Marinovich got benched week 11 (Nov. 15) and never played in an NFL game again. It’s a freakin Raiders jersey. Who the hell wants that crap?

Tags: Todd Marinovich, Youtube, Christmas, NFL, Utube, Raiders

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CxMhc28qGg[/youtube]

Storming the field looks like a fun and safe time for all when you edit it properly.. I’m sure nobody got trampled.. As far as the South Florida Bulls go, live it up. The dream could be over by Sunday morning.

I’m not trying to rain on USF’s parade, but in a season where Appalachian State beats Michigan, Stanford beats USC, and Kentucky takes down LSU, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bulls lost at either Rutgers, Syracuse, or Pittsburgh. Hell, maybe Cincinnati will get ‘em.. Or maybe this college football season is so nuts that South Florida will run the table and end up playing Arizona State for the national championship.

Tags: South Florida, College Football, You Tube, Storming The Field, Bulls

I’ve been busy to say the least so I haven’t been running a lot of my normal features. There’s been no Headphones On In The Locker Room, and no luv from me in the form of Bloggas Be Typin.. So here’s my apology, the mother of all BBTs.

The Starting Five:
A must read interview with Rob Parker, and a look at some double standards in Major League Baseball.

Signal To Noise:
The Mansnitch got ratted out by Brian Billick. Plus, a shout out to the WNBA champions..Ahh that’s sweet.

Ball Hype:
A man’s dream… A bunch of female sports bloggers in one place. I don’t know a sexy way to say this one, just more incredible NBA stat breakdowns.

Larry Brown Sports:
LB is all over LT acting like a B-A-B-Y, and Avery Johnson calling out “Lil D” in Big D.

DeadSpin:
Thank God for Isiah Thomas’ sexual harrasment trial. Does Steve Phillips get paid for his opinions?

Epic Carnival:
Hot chicks and all things MMA. Reggie Bush vs. Lendale White..Right now White’s winning.

The Big Lead:
ESPN replaces Byron Leftwich with O.J. Simpson. Elijah Dukes is in the news and it’s not all bad.

With Leather:
Shawne Merriman hanging out with porn stars? Polo on Segways= Watch this video.

The Big Picture:
A conversation between Byron Leftwich and Joey Harrington.

Mr. Irrelevant:
An Eagles’ fan Monday night pain.

Edge of Sports:
Nixon, Belichick, and cheating.

We Are The Postmen:
Taco Bell hopes nachos can ease Charlie Weis’ pain.

Division 1 football is nothing more than a 5 month playoff system.. A 5 month playoff system that sucks. Teams that aren’t ranked highly to start the season don’t get rewarded for having great seasons. If Appalachian State’s victory over Michigan taught us anything, it’s that D1A needs a playoff system. Playoffs bring underdogs and excitement. The upsets wouldn’t be as big as the college hoops tourney or ASU , but I’d like to see Hawaii/USC match-up.

The majority of the people I know want a playoff system to decide the National Championship. They’ll complain about the way things are now, but they won’t be proactive with their solution… Well I have a proposal. If the NCAA won’t institute a playoff system how about we go to the “Chicks Supporting Their Colleges The Best” series. C’mon.. Is it any more ridiculous than the BCS? First up… USC:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKW_I9Pb23k[/youtube]

You gotta love Los Angeles.. The sun always shines, and the college girls don’t know that a digital camera is also a video camera.. And I wish nobody had told them.. I heard “fight on” and then “dkfjaeorukfghndfograhaoifjakl”. Next up LSU:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH8iPx0qLFg[/youtube]

My homeboy B-Wiz says there’s no such thing as the 1-10 scale for women… It’s only 1 or 0. You either would or you wouldn’t. With that being said, 1-0-0. Gotta say, at least I could understand the LSU women. And finally, Cal:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQUOpYQVlv4[/youtube]

Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2007 National champions, the Cal Bears.

Tags: College Football, Video, National Championship,
You Tube, Sports, Hot Chicks, USC, LSU

In the wrong hands, rap is a bad and dangerous thing. If you don’t know anything about sports in the late 60s and you don’t mind lyrics being completely offbeat then this is the video for you.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6K-Sz9c2NM]

They’ve got 99 problems and knowing how to rap is about 98 of ‘em.

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