Springing Forward With The New USC Trojans - By Nick Hamilton

 On a hazy yet sunny day in Los Angeles, football has once again returned to the L.A. Coliseum in the form of the USC Trojans. Coach Lane Kiffin coming a very solid recruiting class, and a focused and determined Matt Barkley who has made it clear he has unfinished business to handle this season.

With several players recovering from injury such as star wide receiver Robert Woods, Barkley seemed frustrated according to reports, however understandable being the great competitor he is, not having all of his pieces in place. Also waiting on several big time high school recruits to join the force such as Top 5 recruits Washington's Zack Banner, and former Carson High Colt wide receiver Darius Rodgers to name a few.

With all that being said, it was time to showcase to the Los Angeles fans and to the nation that this the year for USC to dominate strong and in a big way.

As they took the field before a crowd of over 15,000 fans, Barkley came out sharp connecting on his first few passes with his other favorite target sophomore Marques Lee. Successful runs by USC tailback Curtis McNeal was made thanks to swift hand offs by Barkley.  McNeal will more than likely carry a majority of the running load this coming season thanks to a torn knee ligament two weeks ago suffered by tailback Tre Madden, a big blow for this team lacking depth at the position.
Rising through the ranks was tailback D.J. Morgan, who scored on a 47-yard run, showed an improved burst throughout the spring along with avoiding fumbling.

The defense looked very impressive, they are much improved from last season, especially at the corner back position. As hard as it was to restrain from hitting, T.J. McDonald seems to now be the leader and continues to anchor that defense. Wherever McDonald goes, so does that defense, designed by guru Monty Kiffin.

Barkley was upbeat on his analysis of Spring football thus far "I thought it was good way to finish spring ball and send us off on a good note into summer."

Coach Kiffin had the tall task of deciding the who Barkley's back up would be, either early enrolled Max Wittek or Cody Kessler who were both good, yet at times erratic on a windy Saturday, have impressed Kiffin alot this spring.

The USC Trojans have been ranked by many outlets in the top 5 to win the BCS championship this year, but if you know Lane Kiffin and Matt Barkley, they'll stay balanced, focused , and continue to improve and dominate one game at a time in the Pac-12.

New Bash Bros. Help Dodgers Avoid Sweep - By Nick Hamilton

 The Los Angeles Dodgers looked to avoid a sweep by the Brewers at Miller Park, something had to change to prevent them from not picking up a road victory.
Dodgers pitcher Aaron Harang who pitched a record setting game at Dodger Stadium last week, answered the call to throw against former Dodger and current Brewers pitcher Randy Wolf.

In the opening inning both Wolf and Harang looked sharp for their impressive clubs, and one knew that this would be another close yet dramatic game as this series has proven to be by the previous two games.
Thanks to a wild pitch by Wolf that hit batter Jerry Hairston Jr, and walked James Loney to load the bases with Hairston and Andre Either respectively at second and third, Wolf had to figure his way out of a jam. After Matt Treanor hit a brilliant sacrifice fly allowing Either to score, and the Dodgers took the early lead 1-0.

  Harang got into a bit of trouble as well, with George Kottaras and Alex Gonzalez already on base in scoring position Travis Ishikawa doubled to right center scoring Kottaras.
To further his own cause, pitcher Randy Wolf hit a sacrifice fly to right allowing Gonzales to score and the Brewers took the lead.

Wolf made a huge mistake by letting Kemp single to get on base, then allowed Juan Rivera to to single to right causing the tying run in M Ellis to score. The Dodgers weren't done as a big time slugger Either hit a good single to right, Matt Kemp scores to take the lead. Wolf gets out of the inning by a pop up by Loney.

Kemp was far from done, after the damage he caused earlier against Wolf, in the top of the fifth it only got worse for the Brewers as he hit a big home run deep to right field his seventh on the year to give the Dodgers some added run support. Harang continued to pitch well, and the Dodger defense held up beautifully, until the sixth inning with Gonzalez and A Ramirez on base, Ishikawa came back to haunt Harang, hitting a single to deep right, scoring Ramirez.

With the Dodgers only leading by one run in the eighth inning, Hairston Jr. made a key defensive play at third base with a runner on third and two outs. Hairston dove to grab a sharp ground ball by Gonzalez then made a long throw to first base from an awkward angle to get the out and end the inning.

After pitching strong innings, reliever Jamey Wright came in to pitch for Harang, and the bullpen held up along with the spectacular defense of the Dodgers to hold on for the win. Reliever Javy Guerra picks up his sixth save on the season as the Dodgers get a much needed win and go to 10-3 on the season.

NL MVP Ryan Braun was a total 0-11 in this three game series, and struck his on his two final at bats at Thursday's game.
 
Brewers' Wolf (now 0-2) went six innings, giving up four runs and seven hits with a walk, a strikeout, while Dodgers' Harang (now 1-1) went six innings, gave up three runs and eight hits with a walk and four strikeouts.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly talks about his team's key win "Its a fairly significant win. Really, we came in and could have got swept but we could have swept them just as easily."
On how concern his MVP Ryan Braun didn't show up in this series, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke stressed that "Braunie, we'll get him going real soon. He's been playing a bit under the weather."

On his performance thus far beyond this series, a very humbled Matt Kemp said "I'm just doing what I'm supposed to be doing, driving in runs, trying to help my team win,"

Now the Dodgers head down to Houston for a weekend series with the Astros, the Dodgers send Ted Lilly to mound to battle J.A. Happ on Friday.