Jump to content

Gil Bang

Certifiably Surly
  • Posts

    19193
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    4

Everything posted by Gil Bang

  1. LOS ANGELES — Maybe they didn’t get talked off the ledge, per se. Maybe the possibility of leaving was just dangled, unspoken, in spring conversations involving USC’s Bear Alexander and Alexander’s guardian Tony Jones and Eric Henderson. Regardless, as Alexander was feeling the transfer portal tug of returning home to be closer to family in Texas, it was his comfort level with Henderson and USC’s staff that helped keep him grounded in Southern California. “We had to just realize or get back to a point where, like, we understand what – all the sacrifices, things that we made, and just get closer to the new family,” Jones told the Southern California News Group, early in the fall. “It’s always easier to reach back to what you’re comfortable with, but those guys are family. They’ve been treating us that way.” But the family split on Wednesday, a suddenly growing crack in the foundation ripping Alexander and USC apart yet again. The defensive tackle, widely regarded just two short months ago as a breakout candidate and crucial piece on the Trojans’ defense, is planning to redshirt his junior season at USC, guardian Tony Jones said. “We are going to take the shirt,” Jones wrote in a text. Alexander still intends to practice with USC this season despite the redshirt, Jones made clear. It could ultimately bring an end to a tumultuous year and a half for Alexander in a USC jersey, and further a tumultuous journey as a talent. It’s possible he preserves his eligibility and searches for a new program through the winter transfer portal. The one-time top Texas recruit had a difficult upbringing and played for five high schools. He spent his freshman year at Georgia before landing at USC in the spring of 2023, and very nearly dipped his toe back into unclaimed waters in the spring of ’24. Head coach Lincoln Riley made it clear, then, that USC didn’t want to lose Alexander, and his return to Troy looked massive for a new-look defensive line under new defensive line coach Henderson. Everything looked peachy, at the start of the fall, former Rams coach Henderson singing Alexander’s praises as a kid “thirsting for knowledge” and Alexander affirming he needed to take steps in consistency to reach his potential. “Just making sure my motor’s at the top, so other guys’ motors is just trailing as well,” Alexander said in late July. It became progressively clear, though, that USC’s staff wasn’t quite seeing that consistency – wasn’t quite seeing something. Alexander led USC in quarterback hurries in 2023, but Riley mentioned in the fall that his “inconsistencies” had hurt the Trojans at times, despite his ability to “be an explosive player.” Before USC’s Week 1 victory over LSU, Alexander was labeled as an “OR” starter on the team’s depth chart next to former Wyoming transfer Gavin Meyer. He’s been a backup, in three games since, to Meyer and Vanderbilt transfer Nate Clifton. USC’s defense appears to have made significant strides to overall improvement. Riley insisted that the coaching staff didn’t “need to see any more” from Alexander; but he played 20 snaps against Utah State, and 21 against Michigan, and on Monday the ball dropped. “FREE 9-OWE,” Alexander wrote in a tweet, then. On Tuesday, Riley brushed away the notion Alexander was earning less opportunity, pointing to the fact Alexander had still played more than a third of the game against Michigan. “He’s doing a good job for us out here, he’s getting better,” Riley said. “There’s no story there. I mean, I know you guys are looking for one. Like, there’s, there’s no story there.” A day later, Alexander was absent from USC’s practice. Defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, speaking to reporters after practice, deferred comment on Alexander to Riley. Meyer and defensive end Jamil Muhammad largely did the same. “Bear’s my brother,” Muhammad said. “I wish him the best.” From a strictly on-field perspective, it leaves USC in a tricky position. The most proven interior defensive lineman on the roster, behind Meyer and Clifton, is senior Kobe Pepe, who has played 124 snaps across his career. There’s Elijah Hughes, a sophomore who showed a couple of flashes during his freshman year. There is proven 6-foot-5, 290-pound true freshman Jide Abasiri. Clifton and Meyer’s consistency, though, was what had given Lynn confidence in starting them on the interior in the fall, he professed. And beyond them, Lynn, Meyer and Muhammad all largely expressed confidence in the program’s depth. “We feel like that’s one of the strengths of the team,” Lynn said Wednesday. The defensive line at USC, Riley proclaimed Tuesday, should be a place difficult to get snaps. And Muhammad and Meyer echoed their head coach Wednesday, lauding the competitiveness of their room. “USC was a team that comes to be reckoned with when it comes to defense,” Muhammad said, asked about Riley’s comments. “So I just think that’s the culture that’s been brought back. And um, that’s across the whole defensive staff, the whole defensive team.” “You have to be a dog day-in and day-out.” But not a Bear, it appears.
  2. I maintain my vehicles, because I don't want to carry jumper cables, a battery pack, or any of that bulllshit. If somebody else has a dead battery, I can't help them. Call the auto club. And have you heard the joke: what's the slowest thing in the world? I'm sure @Brisketexan knows it it's:
  3. Gil Bang

    Weird Al

    Weird story...his parents moved to Fallbrook CA (the northernmost part of San Diego County, and the "Avocado Capitol of the World"), and they both died of Carbon Monoxide poisoning due to a faulty fireplace.
  4. Curious who plays what on Hotel California...although maybe nobody plays nothing on that stupid videogame bullshit. Does Joe still play his part, and Gill plays felder's part?
  5. I want to kill you for posting it.
  6. Sho walks on 4 pitches, takes 2nd on a passed ball/wild pitch, and scores on a base hit. 1-0 Dodgers bottom of 1.
  7. any votes for her were ALREADY invalid, as they just take votes away from the only legit candidate.
  8. Watching Pads-Dodgers again. This long-suffering Angels fan is happy to be excited about baseball in September.
  9. And BTW, this fucking Mercedes eats batteries. I've been replacing them every two years or so, although the AUX battery lasted several years before I knew it even existed. I'm getting twice the life (easily) from my truck battery as I do from the MB battery. And, I'm not some asshole that wants to carry jumper cables, so, if the battery is even a little bit weak, I replace it. My old BMW had the battery under the rear seat. That seems so much smarter to me. Protected from the heat of the engine compartment.
  10. So I don't like to brag, but last week, I closed the... SMALLEST deal of my career! Fucking trailer for $140,000. Meh.
  11. It didn't happen at home. We checked into a hotel Friday night at the beach. The car was fine when I parked it, and fucked when I started it Saturday morning. The wires were chewed completely through, so Mr. mouse/rat whatever got me in the parking lot.
  12. weird, I thought I had responded. It was a fucking mouse or something. Chewed through a couple of wires.
  13. TRIPLE PLAY CONFIRMED... PADS IN PLAYOFFFS
  14. FUCKING PADRES TRIPLE PLAY TO WIN GAME under review. but WTF? Triple play
  15. no hook. no outs, A badass motherfucker on deck. runners on corners.
  16. Broken bat Texas Leaguer to center. Run scores. Here comes the hook.
  17. Number 8 hitter up with no outs. Runners at corners. Pads win tonight they are in. But they are about to shit the bed, I fear.
  18. another dodger hit. 2 on no outs. This guy sucks.
  19. Pads up 4-1 in the bottom of 9, but Suarez is pitching, so pads are fucked. and of course he gives up a hit.
×
×
  • Create New...