HP Comes Out of the Trojan Closet

by Peter Bean on Dec 27, 2005 10:41 AM CST in News

The jury is no longer "out" on Heisman Pundit. We are officially pronouncing judgment, and doing so decisively. The dude loves USC. He was (reasonably) careful about being unbiased during the Heisman race, but now that that's over, he's creeping out of his analytical box and into his Trojan sweater.

Don't believe me? Today he tried to justify ESPN's premature crowning of USC the greatest team ever:

The talk is heating up about USC and whether it deserves the moniker of 'greatest team ever.' Some writers are saying that we should wait until after the Rose Bowl until making that statement. But then, what ever happened to going out on a limb? If USC beats Texas, then even the bums on LA's skid row will be able to figure out that the Trojans were among the best ever. The reason experts get paid good money is to clue us in on these things before they actually happen.

Puh-lease. Crowning USC as best ever isn't the same as prognosticating about the winner of the Rose Bowl. This is a blatant assumption of USC as winner of the Rose Bowl. It's as though the game need not be played. Furthermore, this is not a "writer going out on a limb." This is a network practicing biased, lazy journalism. Okay, it's not even journalism. It's pure hype. It's lazy and stupid and premature.

There are a million things ESPN could do to highlight how good USC has been. But doing "best ever" features before they are the best this season is really bad.

Thank you House That Rock Built for this cartoon.

HP has an admirable wealth of knowledge about the Heisman trophy, how people tend to vote, and so on. He provides his analysis relatively bias-free, and does a good job. So we're not here to trash his work.

But with that said, the guy has a huuuge man-crush on the Trojans and it's pretty obvious. Justifying ESPN, whose Trojan ass licking is rivaled only by the Boi From Troy, is the nail in the coffin. It's indefensible.

--PB--

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Comments

Hype & Overhype

A 34-game win streak, a shot at a third national title doesn't deserve such hype? Look, I admit it is ridiculous that USC is being put up against the best teams in college football history by ESPN. We haven't won anything this year yet!

But it is not like the love affair with USC is contained solely within the media. ESPN is just feeding the country what it wants to see...as evidenced by what even I believe are ridiculous vote totals for USC in these ESPN polls.

I seem to think that the further you go outside of Texas the fewer fans Texas has for the Rose Bowl, and once you leave Big XII country it probably plummets. I don't thank it is unreasonable to say that the vast majority of neutral college football fans want to USC make history. Well, first and foremost they want a close and interesting game no matter who wins but with that given to them, I think they're watching for Reggie, I think they're watching to see if USC can do the unprecedented. Right now I think a good chunk of the country, not just ESPN, loves us. But maybe that is good motivation for the Longhorns.

USC UTHSCSA

by txmed on Dec 29, 2005 4:15 PM CST reply actions

I think that's your bias.

I don't mean that in a derogatory manner. I'm biased too. I just think that what you see is more of a right to be exposed than homerism. Being an SC fan, you don't mind all of the hype. No matter who is playing SC, I'd want them to lose just to end all of the ridiculous hype from the media. If it was OU playing SC, I'd rather see OU win and I HATE OU. If USC in turn won, they deserve the hype and all of the comparisons. But as many have said, '04 SC would kick '05 SC's ass. They may be one of the greatest "Dynesties" in history, but the best "team"? As for your last sentence "But maybe that is good motivation for the Longhorns" I sure hope so.

by GoHorns on Dec 29, 2005 4:43 PM CST up reply actions

TxMed

I think you're right that nobody REALLY cares who wins outside of Texas and USC fans right now.

It's a month of buildup that everybody is already tired of watching. They just want the game to hurry up and be over.

Most people not from Texas love to see Texas teams go down because of the "Self righteous" attitude that Texans carry. It would seem easy for folks to root for USC.

But, this is sport, and people love to see the underdog win or the longtime champ get knocked off.

Why else do people root against the Yankees and Cowboys? I'm a Louisiana boy who graduated from Texas and I see both sides of this debate.

by FreedomDip on Dec 30, 2005 10:19 AM CST reply actions

A Little Slow On The Uptake

It's not exactly the biggest bombshell, nor should it have been that hard to figure out. Nor does it discount what he has to say. A room full of all journalists with absolutely no vested interest in or bias for/against the subject they cover would be a pretty empty room.

By your logic we should also defrock every political reporter who has ever voted in an election. Get real...

by budschlitz on Dec 30, 2005 10:31 AM CST reply actions