USC Star Tailback Stafon Johnson Survives Freak Accident

Late Monday afternoon during a routing workout at USC’s weightlifting facilities, star tailback Stafon Johnson had a suffered serious injuries while bench pressing. Even though he was being spotted by an assistant strength trainer, the bar carrying over 275 pounds slipped from his hand and crashed down on Johnson’s throat. He was immediately rushed to the hospital, where four surgeons spent 7 hours performing reconstructive surgery, which was ultimately successful. Johnson is now in critical, but stable condition according to the latest reports.

According to Dr. Gudata Hinika, trauma director at California Hospital Medical Center, the injuries sustained by Stafon were so forceful that they were similar to being thrown through a windshield of a car. Apparently Johnson’s neck was so strong that he was able to keep his breathing passage open, ultimately saving his life. "Had that been any one of us, meaning me, I would not have survived," Hinika went on to say in his press conference today. "His neck was so solid and so muscular, that actually helped maintain his airway." His experience as a top level athlete helped to keep him calm and maintain his composure in a stressful environment that attributed to the success of the surgery and treatment. Hinika says that USC’s 2nd leading rusher and best touchdown producer probably won’t play again this season. The fact is that he’s lucky to be alive.

Now that Johnson is ok, what does this mean for USC football? Certainly a distraction like this tragedy is never welcome, and among many things all those who know, watch, and love Stafon Johnson hope that he will not only make a full recovery, but will be able to continue the game which he loves and has brought him so far. Coming off of a so-so “redemption” victory over the PAC-10 weakest Washington State Cougars, does USC have what it takes to go the distance? They’ll certainly get one of their biggest tests this Saturday.

The California Golden Bears are coming off of an absolutely embarrassing 42-3 thumping by Oregon. Usually after a serious upset, most teams will come back stronger than ever (except for USC against Washington State last week), and if Cal loses this week, they’re season is pretty much over. They’ve got a lot to lose. On the other hand, so does USC. Matt Barkley and stud Safety Taylor Mays are beginning to close in on 100% health, which will certainly help. Stafon Johnson is USC’s current top touchdown producer, and he will be seriously missed by this slightly underachieving offense. Will this be the week the deepest team in College Football turns the corner? Or will they wait to flip the switch until it’s too late like they did against Washington two weeks ago? Whatever the Trojans do, they’d better do it quickly, because short of their bowl game, this will probably be their biggest challenge of the season, all things considered.

Rich Rodriguez Cries & It’s a good day to be a Buck Eye

College Football starts this week at 8:15 this Thursday with Oregon facing off against Boise State and no one could be happier than I am. It’s the top dog in everyone’s hearts. The college game comes with blackened brats from barbeques and the soon-to-be-remembered feel of an ice-cold brewski on your lips. Even for the smallest of sports fans College Football brings nostalgia for your alma mater and even holds a faint scent of Thanksgiving and Christmas in the air. What’s not to like? Every little piece of this minced-meat pie quenches the starving soul for a taste of the dramatic love of the game. The nation gorges itself on every victory and scandal and confidently whimpers like little Oliver Twist, “please sir, may I have some more?” A relatively early casualty of this season is the poor, poor, Michigan Wolverines.

The last few years have been a trifle difficult for the Big Blue with the true culmination being their embarrassing loss to the Appalachian State Mountaineers at home. I don’t believe the Big House has ever seen a darker day than that. The coaching transition between Lloyd Carr and Rich Rodriguez has been rough. The change in coaching styles and strategies has pretty much made the transition a clean sweep, cold turkey, 180 degree (insert your own clichéd idiom) situation. It’s worked before and will probably work for the Wolverines, it just takes time; time that the Wolverines don’t really have to stay relevant in a slowly deflating Big 10 conference.

So here’s the bad news, Rich Rodriguez and his staff are now under investigation for breaking NCAA rules pertaining to training restrictions. A few of Michigan’s players innocently spoke to the press about the rigors of their schedules, unknowingly admitting to things that could possibly indict their own coaching staff. Rodriguez recollecting their apology to their coach is what prompted the 13 second “get a hold of yourself” pause that he took during his press conference today. Even though these boys seem relatively innocent, there have been other cases relating to this same issue with Rodriguez, including the loss of one of their top recruits last year. Players are speaking out intentionally and unintentionally. Either is alarming. Because somewhere in this relatively minor scandal there is a disconnect between coach and player. A bad sign for Wolverine fans. Whether respect has been won and lost or whether it was never given at all is irrelevant. It’s not there now, and it’s not where they want to be.

With all of this badness hanging around, I can’t really be mad a Rodriguez for trying to work too hard. I’m not trying to be inconsiderate, but if you’re going to break a rule, this is the best one to break. Getting in trouble because you worked to hard or too much is relatively ok in my book. It’s still against the rules, so you shouldn’t do it, but I can forgive you for that. On a lighter note, you’re probably pretty happy if you’re Ohio State Fan. All this malarkey with Michigan and USC’s number 2 receiver, Ronald Johnson, went down with a broken collar bone after their starting Quarterback, Aaron Corp, went down with a broken fibula leaving a true freshman to start in his wake. So I guess it’s at least a good day to be a Buck Eye. You’ll get to be over-rated again, have a shot at the National Championship again, and get embarrassed by somebody who truly deserved to be there when you really should have been at the Emerald Bowl in the first place, again. So congratulations.