Is Troy Burning?

"Glorious Hector cast a spear at Ajax, facing him on the field. It struck the hero where two thick oxhide straps crisscrossed his chest, supporting his shield and silver-studded sword. The double thickness saved him. Hector withdrew after he watched his futile weapon fall. He backed toward his troops to evade death, but Telamon's giant son Ajax sought out a boulder like those used to brace the Greek ships. He picked a rock from where it lay by his feet and threw it over Hector's shield to his throat. The stone raced away like a spinning top but, as when Zeus's bolt fells a great oak at its roots, leaving sulphur fumes in the air, and no mortal who sees could fail to fear the terrible thunderbolt of father Zeus, so then, mighty Hector toppled to earth."

Those lines from Homer's Iliad fairly well sums up last night's game between USC and Stanford. The Trojans were defeated 37-35 by the interlopers from Sparta, I mean, Palo Alto. That's back-to-back losses for USC. Troy, alas hobbled, still stands. But that is Achilles I spy on the dusty plain (looking oddly like Brad Pitt), and he's spoiling for a fight. "My rage, my fury would drive me now to hack your flesh away and eat you raw!" he shouts, neck veins bulging. Gulp. The rest of our Pac-10 schedule looks daunting. And USC's defense doesn't look like it's up to the task. So, I suspect it's only a matter of which Achaean opponent in the Pac-10 will roll in the "Trojan Horse" and finish the sack of Troy this season. Bummer, dude.