USC manager fired for deflating balls in loss to Oregon
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California says it has fired a student manager who intentionally deflated game footballs below NCAA-mandated pressure levels for the Trojans' loss to Oregon last week.
USC announced the dismissal of the unnamed student manager on its website late Wednesday night.
The school says it was reprimanded and fined by the Pac-12.
Underinflated footballs are thought to be easier to catch and throw. The Ducks had little trouble throwing or catching throughout their 62-51 win, the worst defensive performance in USC history.
USC says game officials discovered some of the underinflated footballs before the game and others at halftime, fixing the balls before the second half.
USC says the student manager acknowledged he deflated the balls of his own accord after they had been checked by officials before the game.
As an alumni and fan of USC, I am embarrassed. I thought we were headed back onto the right path, and then stupid stuff like this. Well done U of O. Though I had really hoped we would have beat you, you won (although I guess fair and square on our part no longer applies.) Go finish strong and win a national title. Don't think all of us our proud of what has occurred during the Fall of Troy :( Someday we'll be back and proud. Until then, sorry.
USC can try to cheat, but even then, they can't beat my hometown UO Ducks!
Ah yes, cheating is now acceptable in almost aspects of education. He actually thought he could get away with it. Just more proof that society is declining.
@RalphCramden Agreed. Kind of like Chip Kelly and the U of O paying Willie Lyles to influence Lache Seastrunk to go to Oregon. Not only was that illegal but Seastrunk was a total washout so it also was a huge waste of money.
So are you part of that society ??
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"RalphCramden 5329 pts
 sargeratorÂ
I encourage the Republicans to cheat, steal and anything else they can do to get 0bama out of office.
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The only way to beat the Democrats is to play their corrupt game.
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Anyone but 0bama is a bonus for the US no matter how they get into office."
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From a previous comment....but hey, you can whine to katu and they may take this comment down too, truth is a beatch hey ?
 @sargerator Oh Snap Snap! You go @sargeratorÂ
 @sargeratorÂ
No one really cares what you say or think sargerator. You are persona non grata.
 @sargerator Pwned. Yup, it's too true.
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 @sargerator Could we stop with the childish political jabs already, what a sorry excuse for a life you must lead if you have to resort to these kinds of unprovoked attacks purely for self gratification.Â
 @pdxranger1  @sargeratorÂ
That is what sargerator is good at. He can't have a normal conversation about anything where it isn't the fault of the republicans.
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Pretty pathetic person with no depth to his personality.
 @RalphCramden  @pdxranger1  @sargerator Yep, good ol' sarge.....it's always the RepubliCON's fault and the fault of "the village idiot."
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Hard to take someone like him seriously.
Glad the refs were keeping an eye out for the basic aspects for the game.
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Could it be that some people that go to USC have a sense of 'entitlement'? Hmmm.
 @ThePosterFormerlyKnownAsPhredE They don't call it University of Spoiled Children for nothing.
@ThePosterFormerlyKnownAsPhredE a decent team of referees probably could have caught it; however, the refs that called that game were horrible. Well not quite, horrible is to good for all the terrible calls they made.
Seriously, you have to cheat to win. How embarrassing.
 @LuckylucyÂ
The interesting thing is that it doesn't help one team, it helps both teams. This guy clearly didn't understand that and yet he is in college? Obviously not a smart guy.
If I'm not mistaken, the team on offense supplies the ball. Once they go to defense, their ball is returned to the sidelines. So, it would have only helped USC. They should re-examine that boy's test scores, too. Football probably isn't the ONLY thing where he tries to cheat.
 @notgatt Well, that's logical. If you use only YOUR balls, you know where they've been and who's handled them. ;)
 @flyroy ...so I think 9 times out of 10, teams will opt for their own ball supply.
 @flyroy From the NCAA rules, the home team supplies the balls, but, "...During the entire game, either team may use a new or nearly new ball of its choice when it is in possession, providing the ball meets the required specifications.."
@notgatt I always see the guys with the towel holding and cleaning the balls on the sidelines the ref tooses to them on down changes. Definately have to pay attention it's got me curious.You would think they all use the same group of play balls to avoid cheating?
 @flyroy  @RalphCramden  @notgatt When there's a turnover, you'll see the officials tossing the ball over to the sidelines. I know in youth leagues and in High School, that's how it goes. I think it's to avoid the home team from supplying poor quality or tampered balls to their opponent.
@RalphCramden @notgatt I thought the home team supplied all the balls, whether baseball, football, soccer? They did when I was in college, have home field rules changed?
 @notgattÂ
I was not aware of the rules on who controls the football.
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You are correct in that they need to look at this guys test scores. If I was USC I would kick him out of the school.
And they didn't even get to win!