Answers, Man

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Q: These recruiting "ratings" don't make sense. Rivals has Miami rated fourth, with eight "3-stars", and eight "2-stars". Scout has Craft, of UCLA, rated a "5-star"...Rivals has him a "3-star". Quantity rules! My question is: What are the rules regarding the number of scholarships you can offer each year?

A: I explained the 25-scholarship limit in the previous answers today.

Q: How did the program like playing on Thanksgiving Night last year and was there any thought by ABC/ESPN to have the Trojans play in the "Pilgrim Classic" on an annual basis? I noticed the Trojans do play a THU night game this year. What is the story with that and is there any nationally televised college game on Turkey Day for 2008?

A: USC loved playing on Thanksgiving and while there are no thoughts to doing an annual Thanksgiving game, USC is playing on Thursday next season because it liked it so much.

Q: Have you heard anything about Chris Gallippo's rehab? Do the coaches think that he will be able to play this year?

A: He should take part in some form of spring drills and be ready for the fall.

Q: OK, scott...this is a long question, but it's not the same ol' Mustain questions, so maybe you'll read it all and then answer. i've been getting into it with an alum of a public institution...the topic? costs for the ath departments. my contention is that ath depts at public schools have it much easier.

A: Generally speaking, public schools have it easier than private schools because USC pays about $48,000 per full scholarship. But the issue that really matters is whether a university subsidizes the athletic dept. through its general fund. There are schools in the Pac-10 and across the nation that do this, which means the athletic dept. does not have to worry as much about covering expenses. USC does not subsidize the athletic dept, so in years when it runs a deficit, the athletic dept. has borrow money from USC and pay it back in the future. So yes, it is more difficult for most private schools, unless they are covered by the general fund.

Q: In the scenario where Mustain wins the quarterback job, will Sanchez transfer to another school? Any idea of where he would transfer to? Or is it simply too late in the game for him to transfer and will he just sit out the rest of his time on the pine?

A: Colorado will always come up as a possible choice but it more likely is too late in the game for that.

Q: Whatever became of Big? If Petros Papadakis, Brandon Hancock and that kicker-what's-his-face on the radio can find media work in Los Angeles, there has to be a warm seat for BJD's big ole' butt somewhere. I'd be pretty shocked Scott if he doesn't qualify on your list of top five most quotable O-linemen, he was a manchild on the mic.

A was one of the best-all-time interviews and I don't know what he's up to today. He's sorely missed however, because he was lively and quoteable.

Q: Just where does Mitch Mustain currently stand in regards to a bicycle? Is he riding one? Is he using another form of transportation? Are there security measures that prevent you from disclosing this information?

A: Once we determined Pedalgate was an inside job, Mitch decided to travel by foot to avoid anything that could affect his career. Security measures prevent me from telling you the path he takes now that he no longer is afforded a quick getaway.

Q: Do you think USC will have to give Tim Floyd some sort of extension before the end of the season so they don't lose him to LSU in the offseason?

A: Depends on whether you believe Floyd is not interested in LSU. However, he did turn down more money to go to Arkansas last year. LSU is obviously more attractive to him, but he says he is not leaving and he could get an extension just because USC thinks he's doing a good job.

Q: In your February 8 Blind Item of the Day you mention a USC recruit contacted another Pac-10 school showing interest. What is the NCAA rule about athletes contacting schools, if any?

A: Athletes have a lot of freedom to contact schools, as long as they initiate the contact. That is the key.

Q: You said in the mid-week open forum last week that there was a silent commit who, if he came thru, would be vital to our success---so my question, now that everything is finished, is, who was he??

A: T.J. Bryant.

Q: After this year cary harris and J pinkard will graduate...S. wright decides to go to the NFL and K. thomas shoulder is injured again...who plays CB? tj bryant and traveler?

A: T.J. Bryant, Traveler and Tommy Trojan. I'm sure USC will recruit a lot of corners next year, but in an emergency C.J. Gable and Ronald Johnson could always flip over to that side of the ball.

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Shuster suspended for Chelsea Clinton comments

The avalanche of misogyny directed at Hillary Clinton continues unabated. Yesterday, via MSNBC, it hit Chelsea: SHUSTER: Bill, there’s just something a little bit unseemly to me that Chelsea’s out there calling up celebrities, saying support my mom, and she’s apparently also calling these super delegates. BILL PRESS: Hey, she’s working for her mom. What’s unseemly about that? During the last campaign, the Bush twins were out working for their dad. I think it’s great, I think she’s grown up in a political family, she’s got politics in her blood, she loves her mom, she thinks she’d make a great president -- SHUSTER: But doesn’t it seem like Chelsea’s sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way? PRESS: No! If she didn’t want to be there she wouldn’t be there. Give Chelsea a break. Media Matters has the following statement from NBC News President Steve Capus: On Thursday’s “Tucker” on MSNBC, who was serving as guest-host of the program, made a comment about Chelsea Clinton and the Clinton campaign that was irresponsible and inappropriate. Shuster, who apologized this morning on MSNBC and will again this evening, has been suspended from appearing on all NBC News broadcasts, other than to make his apology. He has also extended an apology to the Clinton family. NBC News takes these matters seriously, and offers our sincere regrets to the Clintons for the remarks. It’s too little too late from MSNBC at this point. Both apologies are here. The first is absolutely pathetic: “To the extent that people feel that I was being pejorative about the actions of Chelsea Clinton making these phone calls, to the extent that people feel that I was being pejorative, I apologize for that.” As is the anchor banter that follows: “Anyone who knows David knows he was not being pejorative… we have to be transparent… we do a lot of live television and when we don’t hit a home run, we say it.” Huh??? Transparent??? Throughout his apology Schuster claims he made his comments within all kinds of praise for Chelsea. Media Matters knocked that down. Shuster’s a liar and the video shows it. But Media Matters has previously catalogued MSNBC’s extraordinarily odious and extensive record of misogynistic comments—“sexual harassment brought to you by MSNBC”—from its male anchors. On the merits, Digby wonders: Why on earth would anyone think it was “unseemly” for the 28 year old daughter of a presidential candidate to be “calling celebrities and superdelegates” on behalf of the campaign? What’s wrong with that? She goes on to remind us that Mary & Liz Cheney served in their father’s campaign, Cate Edwards served in her father’s, and Romney’s five boys stumped for him, as does McCain’s daughter. Atrios will give Press a pass on the comment, but not its underlying intent: [W]hat I find worse is that it’s a general pattern of taking perfectly normal political activities - in this case a family member helping out with a campaign - and tlaking about it as if it’s unseemly, or corrupt, or inappropriate, or seedy, or sleazy, etc… The press has a long history of doing this with the Clintons, holding them to a weird standard that no one else is held to. While I agree on the weird standard point, I’m not willing to give the language a pass. What I’m seeing in this campaign, the first with a viable woman candidate for president, is misogyny unleashed that deserves serious examination not boys-will-be-boys anchors-will-be-anchors excuses. They’re paid one helluva lot of money, they have wasy disproportionate influence, their sexist language should not be tolerated. Shuster should be fired and the rest of the MSNBC lot put on notice. I won’t be holding my breath. LATER: I really see this as a media story, and am not real fond of the remark riles Clinton camp or Clinton campaign takes on MSNBC. That take is just more of that damnable double standard!
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Turning Self Out is Fairplay

Out of the 10 returning players on the new "Survivor," he seemed the one least deserving of the title "favorites."

Indeed, snaggletoothed snake Jonnny Fairplay (this was his wrestling name, remember?) was one of the most underhanded players of the game, though he's introduced in the series as having "played the game perfectly" despite having lost in "Survivor: Pearl Islands."

Already he was wasting no time in ingratiating himself to two different foursomes -- one with bug-eyed Eliza, Jonathan, Yau-Man and Amy; the other featuring impending couples James and Pavarti and Amanda and Ozzy (who apparently hook up next week). But like a guy whose days wandering around a jungle for 39 days are behind him (how can he go out to nightclubs this way?), he began thinking of home, his girlfriend and their impending baby.

Soon he was weeping over the soon to be born baby (Piper, a girl who was actually born Jan. 18) the way he once pretended to weep over his dead grandmother, who of course wasn't dead at all. So when the lazy-looking "favorites" lost their first immunity challenge to the fired-up team of 10 fans (so far not a personality among them), he talked himself up as a guy everyone could vote out.   

And what little else he's accomplished in his life, Fairplay did succeed as the guy you love to hate. So he was the recipient of the show's first near unanimous 9-1 vote at tribal council (despite his pleading, Fairplay ended up voting for Ozzy).

It was almost too easy.

"I definitely feel I did the right thing. I had every single perso here eating out of the palm of my hand and to go out on my own terms, I'm very happy with that," he said over the credits, probably still lying. "Last time i was the biggest badguy ever, this time I'm the responsible adult that people like, some even love."

Love to hate, Jonny. Love to hate.

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Ex-ABC Newsman Dies In Skiing Accident

, a longtime national security correspondent -- who, ABC News president David Westin said, "represented the very best of ABC News" -- has died at age 61 after a skiing accident in Keystone, Colo.

McWethy died of blunt force chest injuries after witnesses said he missed a turn on an intermediate trail this morning, and slid chest first into a tree, Summit County, Colo., coroner Joanne Richardson told The Associated Press. McWethy was pronounced dead at 2:05 p.m., Richardson said.

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Alabama Football: Tide pulls in best recruiting class in years

When The University of Alabama hired Nick Saban to be their next head coach on January 3, 2007, Saban had about a month to pick up the pieces of what was becoming Mike Shula’s fourth class. 

 

In a month, Saban took the class all the way to number 10 in the rivals.com rankings. 

 

For his 2008 class, however, Saban has had an entire year and has used every single minute of it to land one of the top three classes in the country for this recruiting season. 

 

Saban has not only reclaimed the state after it almost slipped to Auburn and the rest of the SEC, but he has also reached out to other states and has begun to take them over as well. 

 

Before Saban, top recruits such as JaMarcus Russell and Pat White were leaving the state for other schools.  Now, Saban is keeping that home grown talent inside the Alabama state lines. 

 

Alabama has landed all top five recruits from the state, including all-everything WR, and 14 of the top 20 from the state of Alabama.  In a year in which the state of Alabama boasted some of its best talent ever, the Tide has kept it under wraps. 

 

Some more big names from inside the state are OL Tyler Love and athlete Burton Scott, both of whom are rated with five-stars along with Jones.

 

 The upside of Scott and Love is that their commitment came very early in the process and they continued to aid the Tide to get this great class.  Both came down to visit unofficially multiple times to aid with recruiting and Scott took visits with other prospects who were considering Alabama in hopes of swaying their opinion. 

 

Not only was Saban dominant in-state, but the Tide coach, now in his second year, branched out nationwide and pulled in 14 guys from out of state to be a part of this class of over 30 players. 

 

Alabama managed to pull three of the top five guys out of Tennessee, gained huge strides in getting two players out of Florida, neither of whom were expected to leave the state, and then the best cornerback out of Mississippi.

 

The prized players from out of state are Quarterback Star Jackson from Florida, Barrett Jones from Tennessee, and Alonzo Lawrence from Mississippi.

 

Jackson is no doubt the Tide’s quarterback of the future, and fans are ready for him to hit the field as early the Tide’s opener against Clemson.  He is listed as a pro-style quarterback according to rivals, but Jackson also has the ability to run the ball effectively.

 

Barrett Jones, the number one player out of Tennessee, is actually an Alabama legacy.  His father played basketball for the Tide back in the 70’s.  That connection has played a huge part in his recruitment to Alabama.

 

Lawrence, a late bloomer in this recruiting season, was heavily recruited by Alabama before his performance in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game against.  Lawrence is also the number one player in the state of Mississippi and the number two corner in the nation.

 

Saban also used his old coaching ties from previous jobs to pull in guys from Michigan and Louisiana as well. 

 

Saban was able to get Mark Ingram, a running back from Michigan, and Robby Green, a six-foot defensive back from Louisiana.

 

Not only did Alabama recruit well geographically, but the Tide also covered some major needs on the team.  

 

The Tide is losing many key players from their 2007 team, including all three starting wide receivers, DJ Hall, Keith Brown, and Matt Caddell, and two All-SEC defensive guys: Wallace Gilberry at defensive end and Simeon Castille at cover corner. 

 

Saban, however, managed to not only fill these spots, but made sure that there was plenty of guys in reserve to push whoever gets the start.

 

Alabama’s best recruited position was no doubt the defensive line.  Eight members from this class are defensive linemen, with Saban bringing in four ends and four tackles. 

 

The best defensive end in the class was actually the Tide’s first commit for the 2008 class in Michael Williams out of Reform, AL. As far as defensive tackle, the best defensive tackle is JUCO transfer Kerry Murphy, but the Tide has something much bigger in the bag as well.  Try Terrence Cody, a 6-foot-5, 395 pound JUCO transfer.  The Tide boast four guys in this defensive line class over 6’ 5". 

 

Behind the defensive line for best recruited position was no doubt the wide receivers, and some Bama fans will argue over which position is more dire at the moment.  With recruits such as, Melvin Ray, and Burton Scott no doubt hitting the field in the fall, this wide receiving core has a lot of promise in it.  Jones will definitely take the field next year for the Tide as a top-five national recruit, and Burton Scott already has an offensive package waiting for him in Tuscaloosa.

 

The corner position was something important for the Crimson Tide to tackle this recruiting season, and Saban and his staff met it head on, pulling in three guys over six feet tall.  The most impressive of these three is Lawrence, who will no doubt fill in the void left by Simeon Castille.

 

With this class, Alabama has set a new rivals record for most 4 and 5-star players in one class.  The Tide has pulled in 22 guys of a four star or higher rating. 

 

Nick Saban has also made great strides in recruiting that was missing under Mike Shula by pulling in all those recruits.  Saban has 19 four-star recruits in this class.  Shula had a total of 20 four-star recruits in his 3 recruiting classes.

 

By the time this article was written, Alabama had received letters of intent from all of their commitments. 

 

Alabama is rated has having the best class according to both rivals.com and scout.com. 

 

Now that signing day has come and gone and the speculation over whether these players will sign, the Tide now looks to 2008 and beyond. 

 

The immediate impact of this class will no doubt be felt on August 30 when the Tide face off against the Clemson Tigers in the Georgia Dome.  However, Tide fans and the new recruits are looking not only to the start of the season, but at a national championship in the next few years.

 

"This class will win a national championship before I get out of school," Star Jackson said.  "And you can quote me on that."

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Tornadoes Rip Through South, Killing 22

ATKINS, Ark. — Tornadoes across four Southern states tore through homes, ripped the roof off a shopping mall and blew apart warehouses in a rare spasm of violent winter weather that killed at least 22 people and injured dozens more.

The twisters that slammed Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky were part of a line of storms that raged across the nation's midsection at the end of a day of Super Tuesday primaries in several states. Candidates including Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee even paused their victory speeches to remember the victims.

A spectacular fire erupted at a natural gas pumping station northeast of Nashville that authorities said could have been damaged by the storms, and an undetermined number of people were reported dead.

A couple and their 11-year-old daughter were killed in their home after a tornado touched down near the center of Atkins, a community of 3,000 along the Arkansas River in the central part of the state where authorities searched in the dark for survivors _ or more victims.

"This was an extraordinary night," said Gov. Mike Beebe. "When it's compounded by darkness, that makes it that much more difficult."

Emergency crews went door to door Tuesday night seeking other possible victims in Atkins, working amid a heavy scent from splintered pines. Power lines snaked along a street, and a deep-orange pickup truck rested on its side. A navy blue Mustang with a demolished front end was marked with spray paint to show it had been searched.

Outside one damaged home, horses whinnied in the darkness, looking up only when a flashlight reached their eyes. On Southeast Second Street, a ranch home stood unscathed across the street from a concrete slab that had supported the house where three people died.

The storms killed at least 11 people in Arkansas, eight in Tennessee and three in Kentucky, authorities said.

The power was knocked out briefly at a Little Rock convention hall that hosted a watch party for GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor.

"While we hope tonight is a time for us to celebrate election results, we are reminded that nothing is as important as the lives of these fellow Arkansans, and our hearts go out to their families," Huckabee said.

At the W.J. Matthews Civic Center in Atkins, a shelter was empty except for a American Red Cross volunteers and a single touch-screen voting machine. The civic center had hosted an election precinct earlier Tuesday.

Cell phone pictures sent to television stations showed a dark, broad funnel approaching Atkins. Traffic was snarled on nearby Interstate 40, with tractor-trailers on their sides.

At least six tornadoes touched down in the 100 miles between Oxford, Miss., and Jackson, Tenn., according to the National Weather Service in Memphis, where deaths and damage were also reported.

One storm tore a large part of the north wall off Hickory Ridge Mall in Memphis. A few people north of the mall took shelter under a bridge and were washed away, but they were pulled out of the Wolf River with only scrapes, said Steve Cole of the Memphis Police Department.

Later, the storms damaged a dormitory at in Jackson, trapping at least three people who talked by phone to rescuers who were trying to dig them out. A 2003 tornado in Jackson killed 11 people and a 1999 twister killed nine.

In Arkansas, the Baxter County Sheriff's Office said debris, including parts of houses, blocked U.S. Highway 62. The town of Gassville was sealed off because of the possibility of gas leaks resulting in an explosion.

Officials do not know what started a fire at the Columbia Gulf Natural Gas pumping station near Green Grove, about 40 miles from Nashville. The blaze could be seen in the night sky for miles around, with flames shooting "400, 500 feet in the air," said Tennessee Emergency Management spokesman Donnie Smith.

But the storms could have damaged the station, said Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman Mike Browning.

The three dead at Atkins were family members who died after their home took a direct hit, Pope County Coroner Leonard Krout said.

"Neighbors and friends who were there said, 'There used to be a home there,'" Krout said.

A tornado shredded warehouses in an industrial park in Southaven, in northern Mississippi, said Desoto County Sheriff's Department Cmdr. Steve Atkinson.

"It ripped the warehouses apart. The best way to describe it is it looks like a bomb went off," Atkinson said. "A lot of fire departments are here and we're searching each warehouse to see if there was anybody in there. It's going to be a time consuming thing and we'll probably be searching into the morning."

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Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Holbrook Mohr in Jackson, Miss., and Woody Baird in Memphis, Tenn.

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Hands That Heal

Dear readers,
I'm still working on my new story so I'm going to publish an older one in three parts. Friday and Saturday will be my Detroit series of pictures, and Sunday will be a regular blog. Hope you're having an excellent, friends!

Man In A Jar

Man In A Jar
It wasn’t until her second free massage that Mac showed Beth his erect penis and said, Look what you do to me. The smell of lavender and eucalyptus candles filled the air. She closed her eyes and said, My word, as if she were an eighty-year old granny instead of a single woman verging on thirty. Enya implored someone to sail away with her, the music loud, in a vain attempt to muffle the sound of the hairdryers directly outside Mac’s private room in the Bella Day Beauty Salon.

Before his display, Mac and she had spent most of the massage talking about prayer, how it gave the angels more power to guard a person from evil, how it gave a person the strength to accept the unacceptable. She told him that her mother had died over a year ago, her precious mother, her best friend, her life, and that she couldn’t imagine then that she’d be breathing now, much less enjoying herself. That’s the power of the Lord, a God thing, she told him. Mac offered his own testimony. He said that Jesus had cured him of his desire for the bottle, no AA necessary. She said, yes, Jesus can do that if you ask and he’d told her that she was his favorite client and she should consider his room in the back of Bella Day her room, Miss Beth’s sanctuary, said as well that he would be glad to give her a free massage whenever, not just when she’d referred someone. She’d already brought her best friend Annie to Mac, who had claimed she’d never experienced anything so relaxing.

Beth smiled, and he bumped into her hip and said, That’s not my elbow in case you’re wondering. She was not wondering, did not like to consider such nastiness. Then came his little show. The massage went from something to be relished to something she had to endure. Funny how often that happened in life, with so little warning. She thought of her older sister in the receptionist area, grading papers, having come out of her massage looking as she did when drunk. She’d have to tell her sister everything.

Her first massage from Mac had felt like what she imagined heaven might be, all dim lights and twinkly music, everything warm, the sensations all drippy. Sue, a waitress who went to Mac once a month, had told her that a massage from him was better than sex, not that Beth would know. She had never gone down that road even though she’d had several boyfriends, including her ex-fiance Johnny Bethune, a mailman who stole people’s magazines and begged to lick her pot of gold. He respected her beliefs, he said. Still, it wasn’t enough to go through with the wedding that she had not once imagined. Sue gave Beth a coupon with Mac’s name on it, above a picture of two hands surrounded by angel wings. Underneath the graphic in ornate cursive script, he’d typed: Hands that Heal.

Beth made the first appointment on Christmas Eve for her and her sister, a distraction from holiday misery. Right from the beginning, she had never entirely trusted Mac, someone so close to her skin, touching her more intimately than anyone ever had, even though his mannerisms led her to believe he was gay. With her mother dead, she thought it would be good to look for a husband, but she didn’t like thinking about sex. Her mother’s advice for the wedding night had been simple -- take a sleeping pill. That way you won’t realize what you’re doing and you can fall asleep without any trouble after it’s over. Her sister had a cheerier view of the whole process, but told her that it was good to remember that things weren’t always what they seemed. Her ex only had one testicle -- earning him the name One-Ball, post divorce. Life, it seemed, was full of surprises, most of them not particularly wonderful.

After the first massage, Beth had quizzed her sister on what had happened while they sat in the car, swigging water from oversized bottles of Aquafina, courtesy of Mac to help with the toxins he’d just released into their systems with the massages.

“Did he touch your butt?” Beth asked.

“Yes. And?”

“Don’t you think that’s weird?”

“I would think it was weird if he stuck something up it.” Her sister laughed, and Beth laughed too. Even in December, her sister refused to dress anything near sensible. Beth would freeze if she dressed like that. She liked that her sister didn’t think too much of what other people thought was appropriate. Her mother had been a worrier long when everyone else had stopped caring.

“Bind up the demons,” Beth said. “Plead the blood of Jesus.”

They drove home, Dolly Parton’s “Hard Candy Christmas” playing on the radio, one of the few Christmas songs that didn’t annoy Beth with its relentless cheer. That night, Beth, her sister, and her father opened presents. Her sister lived halfway across the country and had brought two suitcases full of gifts, trying to make everyone feel better. This year didn’t feel that much different from the last, the first Christmas without Mother. She wondered if it would ever change. Grief narrowed everything to each wretched moment, no future hope, all energy used to get to the next day, to remember to take a bath, to work, to eat, even though she didn’t know why she bothered. It didn’t seem fair. Lots of people had mothers they didn’t appreciate at all. Beth had spent the ten years since high school doing nothing but working as an aide for a Mental Health/ Mental Retardation group home and taking care of her mother. She’d told her mother every day that she loved her, to which her mother had replied, get real. It was all Beth could do not to cry at the thought that there would never be another day like those.

Michelle's Spell of the Day

"So I'm not worried about the emotions I carry with me, because I'm happy that I have them; I think it's good for the work I do. The emotions that are not healthy are the ones you hold inside, like anger. " Diana Ross

Cocktail Hour
Drinking music suggestion: Africa Unite Bob Marley

Benedictions and Maledictions
Happy!
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