An explanation of sorts

The post Rose Bowl entry came off a bit vitriolic, so i think it deserves an explanation of my distaste for all things USC. To be honest a lot of it is hyperbole, but most of it is a reaction to the hype machine that is ESPN and the national media. I'm a bit of a contrarian so if an argument is one sided i'll take the other side to explore the possibilities, nothing is ever as simple as black and white.

ESPN has been running the hype machine at full force for this USC team since last year's Orange Bowl was over. It seems these days that ESPN is always looking for something to be the greatest of all time, just so we can hype it as much. Is this the greatest team?, is he the greatest player?, was that the greatest game?

Did ESPN really run a weak long piece on whether this USC team was the greatest of all time, and they came out third. Does that mean that they have to do that all over again with Texas. This is more of a beef with ESPN, but they have no sense of history prior to their existence. Most of those 11 teams were from the last 15 years. College football has a long history that predates ESPN.

The style of football that USC plays bugs the hell out of me as well. Play some damned defense. This is the same reason i couldn't stand the Rams team that was the greatest show on turf. There's enough talent in California to find some players who can play defense. And they play in the Pac 10 which has no idea on how to play defense.

My opinions on Reggie Bush are in part a reaction to the media's anointing of him as the savior and my opinion of him as RB at the next level. People talk like Reggie Bush has a place in Canton all set aside for himself, when he hasn't proven a thing on sunday. KiJanna Carter and Desmond Howard were both excellent college players but neither has a bust in Canton.
On the other hand i'm not sure that Reggie Bush can be an everydown back on the next level. There was a reason that Pete Carroll decided to give the ball to LenDale White on 4th and 2, he knows that Bush isn't big enough or strong enough to pound that ball into to the middle of the line. Imagine what it will be like at the next level when the D-Line is bigger and stronger.

don't get me wrong, there are alot of good NFL running backs that don't pound the ball. But there aren't a lot of GREAT ones that didn't pound.

So that's it, my distaste for USC. Partially overblown because of the media's neverending hype, but mostly genuine distaste. And do i need a better reason than Nick Lachey roots for them?