IT’S IN THE HOLT!

Par for the Curse:  O’Neill’s bench caddy Stan Holt has “trojan class” going for him (which is nice), and the sc Student Manager proves it in the rough loss to Oregon, by picking up a game-changing T(ee) for aiming coarse language at the Ref

Blame it on the Ballboy.

USC players and Coaches are apparently pinning their 67-57 loss on their 3rd Year Student Manager, Stan Holt.  It was Holt’s Technical Foul that killed the trojans’ momentum, and led to Oregon’s 10-point win.

The trojans had just come back from 7 down to tie the score at 47 with under 6 minutes to play.  But then the Ducks scored, and after a Duck Rebound of a subsequent trojan miss, Holt started hurling obscenities at the Referee, who T’d him up, giving the momentum squarely back to OU.  Even though the trojans had 4 minutes to come back, they still seem to blame Holt for the loss.  Dwight Lewis admitted that the T killed their momentum, and Head Coach Kevin O’Neill said that “it deterred them from having a chance to win the game.”  Anything to deflect blame from the actual Turnover-prone underachievers who are really responsible.

But more importantly, shouldn’t a THIRD-YEAR Manager KNOW BETTER, even in the Land that Lacks Institutional Control?  Doesn’t this die-hard trojan know the rules?  Doesn’t he know that you can’t get away with berating the Officials?   More likely, after spending three years on the bench with the likes of Tim Floyd and O. J. Mayo, and in the locker room with the Who’s Who of NBA Agents, he DOES know the Rules, and he just assumes that they don’t apply to usc.  That’s right:  The trojan wannabe has apparently absorbed the trojan attitude and lack of class that makes one a trojan-for-life.  Not only was he exhibiting poor sportsmanship by immaturely whining about a call, but he felt obligated to use profanity, in a family venue, screaming loud enough for anyone to hear.  So he doesn’t think that the Rules of the Court apply to the trojan players, and he doesn’t think that the Rules of the Game, or of Public Decency, apply to his over-reaction to the non-call.

Or maybe it was just an emotional outburst — an excited utterance — from a guy who has no self-control.  And maybe he regretted it immediately, knowing that it would draw a whistle.  But that would mean that after 3 years, it wasn’t important enough to develop a little self-restraint, in order to avoid hurting his team.

Right after the game, O’Neill said that if someone on his bench was going to get a T, it would be O’Neill, and he said that the situation would be rectified, and that Holt was GONE.  He later recanted, saying that he wasn’t sure what punishment to inflict (Holt was not allowed by usc to give interviews).

O’Neill needs to remember:  You shouldn’t penalize a Cheetah for having spots.

While usc was struggling with Friendly Fire, UCLA fans got to enjoy a Weekend that saw Veterans of UCLA put up some mighty impressive numbers:  Darren Collison dished out a career-high EIGHTEEN Assists for New Orleans, as they beat Mayo’s Memphis in Overtime, IN Memphis.  It was the Grizzlies’ first Home loss in a dozen games (and almost two months).  Collison scored 17 Points to complement his 18 Dimes;  Mayo also scored 17, but tallied only 3 Assists, as Memphis blew a 21-point lead.

Collison was not even close to being the only Bruin who shined over the Weekend.  Clipper Baron Davis scored 30 against LeBron and the Cavaliers;  Minnesota’s Kevin Love scored a career-high 25 Points (with 11 Boards);  Love’s teammate Ryan Hollins scored 16 (on 6-8 shooting);  Russell Westbrook scored 28 Points for OKC;  Trevor Ariza scored 21 for Houston;  Arron Afflalo was a perfect 6-for-6 for 14 Points for Denver;  Jordan Farmar was also perfect, going 4-for-4 for 8 Points for the Lakers, who beat the Celtics IN Boston (on a clutch shot by Kobe followed by a last-second miss by Boston);  Earl Watson scored 11 and notched 6 Assists for Indy;  And finally, in the Pro Bowl, Maurice Jones-Drew scored a 4-yard TD for the victorious AFC.  The only weak Bruin performances came from Jrue Holiday, who went 0-for-4 for Philly (his teammate Jason Kapono did not play), and from the Bucks’ Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who also went scoreless (in only 7 minutes).  Not to throw a spotlight on Bruins who had bad nights — It just means that this Weekend’s 176 combined Bruin Points in the Pros could go even higher in the near future.

“It’s a Cinderella story.”