“Jim Murray-esque” is a column by Sean Campbell that highlights all facets of USC Athletics in the style of former Los Angeles Times columnist Jim Murray.
If you had told me someone involved in USC Athletics had a trademarked nickname, one, I would’ve laughed, two, I would’ve thought it was pretty badass and three, I would’ve made about 100 wrong guesses about who it was before giving up.
The Trojans have a plethora of athletes that transcend into “nicknamable” status. I could coin a couple off the top of my head:
Two-time Paralympic gold medalist in track and field and USC freshman Ezra Frech could be “The Novice” — self proclaimed, much to my dismay in September.
Senior setter Mia Tuaniga would be well-described as “Ms. You Ain’t Gonna Return This Serve” or “Ace” for brevity. More than once, I’ve seen her spinning serves all but clinch sets for the Trojans, and her 1220 put her at third in the Big Ten.
Maybe, my mind would’ve gone to redshirt senior running back Woody Marks — born Jo’Quavious Marks — but apparently facets of that trademark are owned by a variety of companies that make hammers, leather, shirts and movies about anthropomorphic toys.
If I only had one guess who the trademark belonged to, though, I would’ve said sophomore guard JuJu Watkins. On the back of stats so good that a man would’ve certainly declared for the NBA by now — though her NIL deals with Nike, Gatorade, Funko Pop and many more likely earn her more money than if she were to declare for the league. She also led the team to its first NCAA Elite 8 in over 20 years.
There’s plenty to work with from her iconic bun to her, well, utter dominance.
To find the answer though, you would have to switch genders, look to the sideline rather than the court and age up about 40 years.
Head coach Eric Musselman’s men’s basketball team (5-4) — whose supporters often jump either on or off the so-called “Muss Bus,” which he trademarked in 2018 — has been on quite the journey in his first year at USC.
In its second game on Oct. 27, USC topped now-No. 7 Gonzaga, 96-93, albeit in a scrimmage. Then, after a few unranked wins, the Trojans fell to unranked Cal, 71-67, and dropped both games in last weekend’s Acrisure Classic — a 71-36 rout from top-25 vote getter Saint Mary’s and another unranked loss to New Mexico, 83-73.
Throughout that time, Musselman consistently had reported breakdowns on the sidelines that resulted in a technical foul over the weekend and another during Wednesday night’s Big Ten debut against Oregon (9-0).
Perhaps Musselman was looking forward to a long road-trip on the “Muss Bus” in the now nation-spanning Big Ten. Instead, he got a home matchup with a former Pac-12 member in Oregon — who migrated to the Big Ten along with USC this year.
That disappointment alone could’ve set me off, but after watching a sure-thing upset of a Ducks team now ranked No. 12 turn into a 68-60 loss, I hope I would’ve been as calm as the new head coach.
Musselman is the kind of guy that expects a lot and for a lot of the game Wednesday, he got just that, yet his signature intensity still showed through.
Even during the approximately 30 minute Trojan lead — which began with a 2-point jumper from junior guard Desmond Claude to put USC up 4-2, and ended with a late comeback — Musselman could still be heard saying “stupid call,” waving his hands in the air and giving intense speeches during timeouts.
If USC women’s volleyball coach Brad Keller wants his players to “run towards burning buildings,” Musselman seems like he wants to make the fires for them to put out, metaphorically of course. Even after Jim Murray lost full eyesight in his right eye, he would’ve been able to tell how much passion Musselman exudes, and like Keller, I am a big fan.
Early on for Musselman’s squad, Claude and graduate guard Chibuzo Agbo put the team on their backs offensively, scoring 12 and 14 respectively in the first half and finishing with 22 and 18 respectively — a combined two-thirds of USC’s offense.
Even though the chinks in the Trojan armor were evident in the first half, the second half rusted that armor and broke it into pieces like the Tin Man of “The Wizard of Oz” (1939). Except this time the rusting wasn’t done by rain, snow or the tears of an apparently heartless being, it was by a downpour of Oregon treys.
The Ducks shot a solid 8-for- 23 from 3-point land. USC made 2-of-12.
For most of the game, I had this column centered around upsets, but when I looked up from writing a paragraph with 5:11 left in the game, I realized that might’ve all been for naught.
Two Oregon free throws closed the gap to 3 at 55-52 — the smallest it had been in a long time.
Then, USC turned the ball over and the Ducks made a three.
Then, USC turned the ball over and the Ducks made a three.
Then, USC turned the ball over and the Ducks made a 2-pointer.
The energetic Musselman couldn’t do anything but watch, bent over with his hands on his knees, as the Ducks took the lead, 60-55.
All of a sudden — with a greater power of Deja Vu than the use of most actors in two, parallel roles in “Wizard of Oz” (1939) — the team that had led the whole game was down and was soon put away.
“We have to close the game better, but we have to learn to do that too,” Musselman said postgame. “Other than defensively down the stretch, the effort was there.”
For me, this line brings back a lot of memories of driving home from my childhood baseball games — particularly ones where I was closer to a negative batting average than the Mendoza Line.
If the “Muss Bus” was a physical thing, the car ride home for the Trojans would’ve been dead silent as the disappointed dad sped home and almost certainly did not stop at Chick-Fil-A.
“Jim Murray-esque” runs every Thursday.