By now, you’ve likely all seen USC athletics’ epic “roast” (pun intended) of Northwestern with their coffee shop skit involving Sam Huard and Sam Johnson after the Trojans’ trick play against Northwestern where Huard effectively disguised himself as Huard.
If not, read Adam Bradford’s article or check out the clip itself:
This clip, in the old “This is SportCenter” style, is a total hit. It’s funny in both an obvious and subtle way and well written with a great aesthetic. It’s exactly the kind of high-quality production, in every aspect from writing to cinematography, that you’d expect from the best film school in the country (I refuse to claim my bias even though I did graduate from USC with a film minor).
But it’s not the first time USC has done a great “This is SC” skit this season, and I also really hope it isn’t the last. Let’s go deeper on this series, why it’s so great, and what I hope to see from it in the future.
What is “This is SportsCenter”? The History:
The widely beloved ESPN ads ran from 1994-2024. They depicted ESPN personalities and famous athletes performing various random tasks around the ESPN office. All of the ads fit into a comedic mockumentary genre similar to the famous sitcom “The Office”.
Here’s a great article on some of the best “This is SportsCenter” ads of all time. But I’ll showcase one example here that I saw during my childhood that encapsulates the vibe of these commercials.
In this clip, San Francisco Giants superstar pitcher Tim Lincecum struggles to record his voicemail greeting at the ESPN office, trying several of his nicknames including “The Freak” and “Big Time Timmy Jim” before ultimately cringing at each attempt:
These clips were simple but hilarious and they got to the heart of who the sports personality was or some of the best stories about them, in this case the beloved Lincecum and his famous nicknames.
You can see how the Huard/Johnson clip is clearly inspired by this. The other videos were as well.
The first “This is SC” clip — men’s basketball learns to open doors
The first time, as far as I can tell, that USC used the trend this season, was back on October 7. It featured USC men’s basketball players Jacob Cofie and Jaden Brownell and USC drum major Zachary Eggleton.
In the clip, Cofie and Brownell struggle to enter the right code open a door to the John McKay center. Head coach Eric Musselman narrates and explains that’s because they, just like basically everyone on men’s basketball’s entire roster, transferred to USC and are still trying to figure out how everything works.
Then, Eggleton walks up and opens the door by performing the traditional sword-stabbing tradition that USC’s drum major always performs before football games to open the Trojan Marching Band’s pregame show. That opens the door, to Cofie and Brownells bewilderment. Check it out:
It’s funny, clever, plays on one of USC’s best traditions, and is also self-aware. Musselman isn’t afraid to make fun of himself and the fact that he has retained only 2 scholarship players in 2 seasons at USC. It’s endearing in every way.
SportsCenter crossover
Mussleman also made a skit with Linda Cohn herself, the anchor of SportsCenter since 1992. In the clip, Musselman explains that Cohn is having a hard time leaving Los Angeles (ESPN relocated SportsCenter LA to headquarters in Bristol) and so she is getting “SC” confused with SportsCenter.
Cohn walks around and covers the Trojan basketball team doing various monotonous tasks, namely studying in class and eating food at the Little Galen athletic dining hall:
It’s another funny, satirical clip that allowed some of the men’s basketball players to show off their personality.
Can we expect more clips?
The “This is SC” clips have become less frequent since the two with Musselman were released in Mid-October. USC also notably did not include the “This is SC” title on the football video, even though that video clearly falls into the same stylistic category as the “This is SC” videos.
Musselman has been the most active head coach participant in USC’s creative branding efforts, especially when it comes to expanding their short form video content. I’d assume that now that Musselman and men’s basketball are in the thick of the regular season, it is hard to schedule him to make more videos, and I’d assume it is easier to get him to agree to participate than other coaches like Lincoln Riley, who are more reserved.
But the Huard/Johnson video was an indication that if USC has a nationally relevant moment they feel they can capitalize on, they will break out the big guns and make another “This is SC” video.
What “This is SC” videos do I want to see?
USC needs to make a “This is SC” video with the women’s basketball team. Lindsay Gottlieb’s squad is full of so many fun personalities. I’d love to see Rian Forestier and Londynn Jones specifically as the stars of a women’s basketball skit.
I doubt he’d agree to it, but I want to see Lincoln Riley in a video. I think he has the kind of personality that could pull off dry humor really well.
Also, and perhaps most importantly, get USC men’s volleyball head coach Jeff Nygaard in a “This is SC” video. He’s really hilarious, and would agree to any media initiative that helps promote men’s volleyball. There are plenty of stars on the men’s volleyball team you could include in a video with him. If you are part of the team that makes these videos, please. I am literally begging you. I promise it would be so funny.
Trojan fans, what “This is SC” video would you like to see the media team make?
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC’s ‘This is SC’ style videos make waves with creativity and humor
Reporting by Ethan Inman, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
