The Peterson Principle: 1/01/2020

By Tim Peterson

It’s not really too late for USC to fire Clay Helton. Mike Bohn, the Athletic Director, simply needs to say “I changed my mind.”

Who would blame him after that performance in the Holiday Bowl? One local coach who was at the game said he knew USC would get blown out just by watching the team warm up. In his eyes the Trojans didn’t want to be there. And it showed in the way they played. USC didn’t just lose to Iowa, it got trucked. How is that possible? Did Iowa have better athletes than USC? Better recruits?

Iowa did have Kirk Ferentz however and the Trojans had…well they had Clay Helton. It’s not like Bohn has to extend Helton’s contract. Lynn Swann already did that two years ago. It’s not like USC would be hurt in recruiting if Helton was dismissed. The Trojans are already ranked last in the PAC 12 in this year’s recruiting class and 78th nationally. As of right now USC has failed to land a signature from any of the top 25 in state prospects. If California kids aren’t coming then chances are nobody else is.

Hurt recruiting? If Helton goes it should help it. Come on Mr. Bohn, start the New Year off right. Make the move. With that being said I fully expect to see Helton on the sidelines when the Trojans open the season against Alabama next September.

**
Still nothing new on the head coaching hires. The only local position that has been filled is West Covina with the return of Mike Maggiore. That may be turn out to be the best hire of all. The Pioneer opening is still the most intriguing. Apparently there is a teaching job to be offered with the coaching job which makes it even more attractive. After the Christmas break expect a lot of the positions to be filled fairly quickly. Pioneer as well as several other schools will be concluding their interviews then and making decisions.

**
I wasn’t thrilled to see that Deshon Thompson is transferring to Muir. Not because I don’t like transfers, they don’t bother me, but because I hate to see a solid program like Northview and a great coaching staff led by Marcel Perez, lose a talent like Thompson. I know it must sting to see a player like Thompson leave for another school after suiting up for you for two years. Also Northview lost Jamier Johnson last year when he transferred out. For Thompson he’s from Pasadena so it’s a homecoming. Northview’s loss is definitely Muir’s gain.

**
I was asked this week If I’m going to cover basketball this year and was advised that there are several exciting teams in the area. I’m sure there are. And although I did get out to a game last week – I saw Monrovia beat Baldwin Park – the season really doesn’t get underway until after the new year. League play starts and you start to see some of the better teams separate themselves from the pack. The truth is we cover basketball every year. We just don’t cover it until we’re ready to. Like I said hoops doesn’t start until January. Or is that when I think it starts because I’m suffering from football hangover?

**
Ok back to football. If Jason Garrett doesn’t get fired now you have to wonder if he doesn’t have something on Jerry Jones. Pictures?

Can anybody beat the Baltimore Ravens? And if not is everybody ready for another Ravens-49ers Super Bowl?

As tough as Phillip Rivers is it does seem like his time has come to an end with the Chargers. That being said Tyrod Taylor isn’t the guy that’s going to lead the Los Angeles/Carson Chargers from San Diego of Inglewood to the promised land. Can they get a solid quarterback in the first round?

Is Marshawn Lynch still eating skittles?
**
It’s hard to believe that Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence has never lost a game in college. However that’s about to come to an end. LSU and Joe Burrow will put a stop to that. If only USC had a head coach like Ed Orgeron.

That’s my principle.
Tim can be reached at tim.midvalleysports@gmail.com or on Twitter @tspeterson40.

11 Comments to "The Peterson Principle: 1/01/2020"

  1. Anonymous's Gravatar Anonymous
    January 3, 2020 - 5:23 pm | Permalink

    Sounds like Pioneer is a lose / lose.

    Is that the sense? Or can’t it be turned around with the right people? Admin, coaching staff, and others?

  2. ?'s Gravatar ?
    January 2, 2020 - 7:57 pm | Permalink

    Who are you, fake news. Pioneer was built in the 60’s and Sierra was already up and running. As for SHUT IT DOWN what you would like is to send the student body to the other side of the border right? Pioneer has a great new football stadium and is scheduled to have a world class aquatic center built on its empty parking lot on Washington Blvd. You clearly are the type that drew up those squirrelly lines. You got what you wanted at LS so just shut up.

  3. Mid Valley Fan's Gravatar Mid Valley Fan
    January 2, 2020 - 4:08 pm | Permalink

    Any word if Spathais going to coach anywhere. He did make Bassett and Workman into decent teams?

  4. FBFan's Gravatar FBFan
    January 2, 2020 - 10:30 am | Permalink

    @Rise of the Titans,

    It’s believed that the demographics and haves/have nots of the Whittier District is exactly how it is intended for the district. La Serna wasn’t a blip on anyone’s radar prior to the start of this past decade until open enrollment occurred. It creates a big gap between LS and the rest of the district schools.

    La Serna draws from La Habra, Hacienda Heighta, East Whittier, and all the way to West Whittier, and Pico Rivera.

    Cal has it pretty good too with their demographic. But Whittier and especially Pioneer have been kicked to the curb and it hurts them athletically.

    Speaking of Whittier, is anyone going to clear the air about that mess? How the heck did they end up going 0-10???

    Whatever Pioneer does, it shouldn’t look for a St. Paul guy. That never works out for Del Rio League teams. It didn’t work for Pioneer with Willig, it didn’t work for El Rancho with Zepeda, and it’s not working now for Whittier with Ancich.

  5. The Low Down's Gravatar The Low Down
    January 2, 2020 - 9:44 am | Permalink

    All good drivel from our buddy Riser, but what he fails to mention about Pioneer High is that it was purposely built in the fifties to take the OVERFLOW from El Rancho and Santa Fe. Now that the enormous mass of bodies known as the baby boomers are long ago grown up, it’s way past time to do with this school what they did with Sierra and Monte Vista: SHUT IT DOWN. The reason Pioneer has such a stretched-out attendance zone is that the district is trying, in vain, to keep this joint going in the face of no real demand for classroom space. It reminds me of how libraries are struggling to remain relevant in the age of internet. I suggest to Riser that he/she just IMAGINE that Titan football has been reborn, because the same fantasy applies to the whole obsolete campus.

  6. Anonymous's Gravatar Anonymous
    January 2, 2020 - 1:16 am | Permalink

    @Rise I think WUHSD is open. What does the district do to help? What can they do?

  7. Rise of the Titans's Gravatar Rise of the Titans
    January 1, 2020 - 3:00 pm | Permalink

    Pioneer has no student population problem it has a attendance area problem. It’s boundries have been gerrymandered by WUHSD. The attendance area snakes through the most modest parts of Whittier. It stretches from Whittier Blvd. & the 605 to Telegraph Rd. a few steps from La Mirada. It takes in West Whittier, Los Nietos, parts of Canta Ranas and the White fence gangs territories to the poorest and most gang infested areas of South Whittier to the La Mirada border. If you are a parent in the far out reaches do you want your daughter or promising son athlete to go to Pioneer and an hour bus ride and then have to get them home somehow after a late football or cheerleading practice? Or do you look to much closer and safer California, La Serna, Whittier, Santa Fe, St. Paul high schools? The answer is obvious. Despite the blatant discrimination of the attendance areas Pioneers students and staff are top notch and wonderful and with a little love football can come back.

  8. SoCal's Gravatar SoCal
    January 1, 2020 - 2:41 pm | Permalink

    Most of the coaching jobs that are open are bad jobs. They is no such thing as an ideal job out they, but all these schools have major problems. $5,000 at most for a walk on head coach, not worth the effort. Until a head coach can get an on campus teaching position and bring a couple of his staff on campus he is just spinning his wheels.

  9. Snakes's Gravatar Snakes
    January 1, 2020 - 11:44 am | Permalink

    Northview played the game and now it’s biting them in the ass. This past seasons team probably a .500 team at best without the Thompson’s, good luck.

  10. The Low Down's Gravatar The Low Down
    January 1, 2020 - 11:24 am | Permalink

    Tim wonders if Jason Garret has something on Jerry Jones. Maybe Clay Helton has something on the university chancellor. It’s otherwise not possible that a sharp pencil like Bohn wouldn’t have thrown this guy out already.

  11. January 1, 2020 - 10:31 am | Permalink

    Any chance that Roger Lehigh takes over at Charter Oak?

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