not just because they keep inviting me to annenberg to speak

not just because their football team is amazing

and not just because ive always been slightly fascinated by their marching band

but check out this interesting tidbit caught by Adam Rose – former LAist sports editor and current LAT blogger of the All Things Trojan blog – the Red Hot Chili Pepper bassist Flea is a freshman at USC – studying music!

The 45-year-old is listed as an “undergraduate visitor” in USC’s Thornton School of Music. Balzary probably has a leg up on most of his classmates, considering he founded the Silverlake Conservatory of Music and, oh, yeah … is a rock icon. While he’s on campus several times per week, don’t expect any dorm sightings — Flea’s a commuter student.

Besides collaborating with legendary artists like Jane’s Addiction, Nirvana, and Alanis Morisette, Balzary has appeared in The Big Lebowski, My Own Private Idaho, and one of the Back to the Future movies. His latest “appearance” was at USC’s football practice — he stopped by after class because he heard a commotion. The Trojans were playing simulated crowd noise to mimic their upcoming road trip to Oregon State, and the practice field is adjacent to the music school.

Adam also runs the Times’ UCLA blog, so when Jimmy Page enrolls over there expect to hear it on What’s Bruin first.