In This Corner

For several years ... 10 maybe? ... I did an annual predictions column in the newspaper.

I'm ending that streak this year, mostly because the Lakers' biggest regular-season game of the season was on Dec. 30 (last night), which meant my Dec. 31 column was NOT an assessment of my 2007 predictions ... AND I don't have a column for Jan. 1, which is when I usually predict the next year.

So, I'm using the blog to check up on my 90 (!) specific predictions for 2007.

Right up front: I did about what I usually do -- about half right, half wrong. Actually, a little on the low side, at 46.7 percent correct. (That is, you flip a coin, you probably do better than me; though, in my own defense, some of the picks involve a lot of moving parts.)

But this year the correct predictions don't have many of those "how did he know that?" predix ... while some of the misses were laughably wrong.

Let's start with the good news ... the ones I got right.

1. Auburn over Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl.

2. Louisville over Wake Forest in the Orange.

3. LSU over Notre Dame in the Sugar.

4. Chicago in the NFC title game.

5. New Orleans in the NFC title game.

6. Chicago in the Super Bowl.

7. UCLA wins the Pac-10 basketball title.

8. UCLA does NOT go 18-0 in Pac-10 play (15-3)

9. UCLA reaches the Final Four.

10. Florida repeats as NCAA basketball champ.

11. The Lakers make the NBA playoffs.

12. Detroit makes the Eastern Conference finals.

13. San Antonio makes the Western Conference finals.

14. San Antonio wins the NBA Finals.

15. Greg Oden goes No. 1 in the NBA draft.

16. UCLA's Darren Collison stays in school.

17. Ducks make NHL playoffs.

18. Kings don't make NHL playoffs.

19. Dwayne Jarrett declares for NFL draft.

20. Jarrett is taken in the first round of the draft.

21. Barry Bonds breaks Henry Aaron's career home run record.

22. Aaron is not in the stadium when it happens.

23. The Dodgers win more games than the Giants.

24. Dodgers don't make the playoffs.

25. Dodgers sell more than 3.5 million tickets.

26. Angels sell more than 3.5 million tickets.

27. Argentina wins the Copa America soccer tournament.

28. The U.S. doesn't survive the first round of the Copa.

29. Landon Donovan wins the Honda Award (nation's best player).

30. Roger Federer wins at Wimbledon.

31. Lorena Ochoa leads the LPGA in victories.

32. Pete Carroll doesn't jump to the NFL.

33. Ben Olson makes more starts at QB for UCLA than does Patrick Cowan.

34. Ontario breaks ground on an arena.

35. Silverado wins the Desert Sky football title.

36. Colony wins the Mt. Baldy title.

37. Kaisers wins (a share) of Sunkist title.

38. Etiwanda wins (a share) of the Baseline basketball title.

39. Serrano wins the Mojave River.

40. Colony wins Mt. Baldy (hoops here, still).

41. Tiger Woods doesn't win eight tournaments (he won seven).

42. Clippers don't make the NBA playoffs.

Not bad. Forty-two correct predictions.

Now for the bad news.

1. Michigan over USC in the Rose Bowl. (32-18, Trojans)

2. Oklahoma over Boise State in the Fiesta. (43-42 Boise State)

3. Ohio State over Florida in the BCS title game. (Not even!)

4. The Ravens reach the AFC title game.

5. The Chargers reach the AFC title game.

6. Ravens make Super Bowl.

7. Ravens win Super Bowl (by two touchdowns, no less; hah).

8. REV wins CBL basketball title (Redlands won by five games).

9. Silverado wins the Desert Sky title (actually, Silverado finished last; Granite Hills won).

10. San Gorgonio wins SAL title (Arroyo Valley).

11. Damien wins Sierra League (Chino Hills).

12. USC fails to make NCAA tournament (it got to the sweet 16).

13. Cal State San Bernardino wins the CCAA basketball title (Humboldt finished a game ahead).

14. Prentice Harris of Cal State is player of the year (it was a Humboldt kid).

15. Cal State's Jeff Oliver is coach of the year (Humboldt's guy).

16. LeBron James in NBA MVP (Nowitzki).

17. Lakers get to second round of playoffs.

18. Miami in Eastern Conference finals.

19. Dallas reaches Western Conference finals.

20. Detroit reaches NBA Finals.

21. Buffalo wins NHL title (Ducks).

22. Raiders use No. 1 draft pick on Brady Quinn (JaMarcus Russell).

23. Jason Schmidt wins more games for Dodgers than Barry Zito does for Giants (Schmidt barely pitched).

24. The Padres win the NL West (Arizona).

25. Athletics win AL West (Angels).

26. Angels don't make playoffs.

27. Yankees win World Series.

28. Mets play in World Series (it was Boston over Colorado).

29. Mexico wins the Gold Cup soccer tournament (U.S.).

30. Floyd Mayweather knocks out Oscar De La Hoya in their prize fight (it was a decision).

31. USC loses at Notre Dame, in football. (USC hardly lost; Notre Dame hardly won at all)

32. USC loses at California.

33. Cal wins the Pac-10 football title (USC, ASU).

34. USC plays in Holiday Bowl (Rose).

35. UCLA plays in Sun Bowl (Las Vegas).

36. Karl Dorrell isn't fired.

37. Maria Sharapova wins Wimbledon (Venus Williams).

38. McFadden wins Heisman (Tim Tebow; McFadden WAS second).

39. Texas makes BCS title game.

40. Florida State (!) makes BCS title game. ('Noles barely mustered a quorum for their minor bowl)

41. Kurt Busch wins Nextel Cup championship (Jimmie Johnson).

42. Danica Patrica gets first Indy-car win.

43. Rancho Cucamonga wins Baseline football title (Los Osos).

44. Redlands wins CBL football title (REV).

45. Rim of the World wins Mojave River (Serrano).

46. Chino Hills wins Sierra League (Damien).

47. Big Bear wins CIF football title.

48. Tiger Woods wins two Grand Slam events (he won one, the PGA).

I don't know if I'll take a whack at 2008. Maybe, tomorrow, before kickoff at the Rose Bowl. Or maybe I'll just hang up the crystal ball. If you can hang a ball, that is.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Man, that was ugly. And it started so promisingly.

The Lakers never were as sharp as the Boston Celtics, but they were down only eight at the half.

Then the Celtics flipped the "wipeout" switch and left the Lakers in smoldering ruins, 110-91, as the Staples Center crowd headed for the exits.

All that progress the Lakers seemed to be making, this month? Winning 10 of 13 before Sunday's game?

Gone. Poof.

The Celtics seemed to expose them as disorganized children, far from serious consideration among the NBA's elite.

Of course, the Celtics have been doing that to just about everyone. They're 26-3, after all. They already have two more victories than they did all of last season.

The big change is the addition of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

Garnett brings a sort of drill-sergeant intensity to the whole Boston franchise, and Allen gives them another proven scorer and nice all-around player.

Actually, the Celtics have three current superstars (Paul Pierce being the third), and no other team in the league can say that.

The Lakers dissolved in the face of Boston's defense, casting off ridiculous shots almost from the opening tip.

Thanks to some baskets at the end, they "hiked" their shooting percentage to 36.5, when it was over. But Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom were obviously pressing, and they had the shooting numbers (6-for-26 for Kobe, 6-for-17 for Odom) to prove it.

The scary thing for the Lakers -- and for Boston opponents -- is that the Celtics seemed ripe for the picking. The Celts were playing their fourth road game in five nights, starting point guard Rajon Rondo (hamstring) didn't suit up, and the crowd (and Lakers) seemed to be fired up about the game.

Then the Celtics smoked the Lakers in the second half. Ack.

Now Boston goes out to see if it can make a run at the NBA record for victories (72; they're on pace to get there), and then to find out how deep it can get in the playoffs. Boston hasn't won an NBA title since 1986 and was 24-58 just last year.

The Lakers, meanwhile, will try to bounce back, and get back to that learning curve their kids were on. They have to hope Bryant isn't too deflated by this experience ("Hey, trade me to Boston!"), but he tried too hard and got out of his game almost immediately.

The Lakers get winnable home games vs. Philadelphia and Indiana over the next seven days. If they bounce back, this will just be a big green bump in the road. What they can't afford is to let this butt-kicking destroy their confidence.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 9:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Lakers are into their third or fourth minute now of a very, very weird collection of players on the court.

And this isn't garbage time against the SuperSonics. This is the second quarter vs. the Boston Celtics.

Here are the Lakers' five: Kwame Brown, Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza, Jordan Farmar and Javaris Crittenton.

Huh?

If the Lakers' regulars were having trouble staying with the Celtics, you can imagine how ugly it is with these guys.

Kwame and the rookie, Crittenton, look particularly overmatched.

Kobe just came back into the game, for Crittenton. Not that that's going to change things much because Kobe is 2-for-8 from the floor and losing his cool.

Lamar Odom just put up an airball from 18 feet.

Ack. This is getting out of hand.

Anyway, that long stint with so many backups ... almost makes you wonder if Phil Jackson already has decided this game is lost and doesn't want the starting five to get too wounded in the process.

Boston 45-31.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 7:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We're barely nine minutes in, and already we have short shorts, Lamar Odom and Paul Pierce exchanging elbows everybody but the refs saw -- and three technical fouls.

One each on Kevin Garnett and Trevor Ariza for woofing and shoving after a Garnett basket ... another on Celtics center Kendrick Perkins for crabbing at the refs when he thought he was fouled.

Anyway, this is physical, the fans are into it, and the Lakers are hanging around -- though they are being outplayed by a Boston team playing its fourth road game in five nights. It's 24-19 Boston.

Garnett is the best player on the floor so far. He's scoring points (eight) and dominating the middle.

Celtics fans (and you knew they would show up) are chanting "M-V-P" when Garnett shoots free throws.

Lakers fans shouted them down, when they heard that heresy ... and are chanting "M-V-P!" of their own when Kobe Bryant shoots free throws.

The Lakers are having serious trouble getting (and making) shots. I'm thinking their best hope is that the Celtics tire out late. The way these teams are playing now, Boston clearly is the better team.

Oops! Another technical foul -- this one on Kobe, who just got scored on by Paul Pierce, and fouled him.

Yeah, it's warming up. And the Lakers are losing their cool.

Boston 30-19 all of a sudden.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 7:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lakers and Celtics, right?

Lots of organizational pride/arrogance here.

The Celtics' warmups had their 16 NBA titles emblazoned on the back. Like 16 little championship banners.

But as the Lakers were introduced, Lawrence Tanter reminded fans that the Lakers have won 14 championship "and more games than any team in NBA history."

And the pregame audio-video show I mentioned a few days ago ... focused on the Lakers' first defeat of the Celtics in the NBA Finals, in 1985.

And now there was a serious pre-game buzz when fans realized the Lakers are wearing throwback uniforms ... that are so throwback the shorts are almost really short.

Like the sort all basketball players wore, up till about 1990. When Michigan's Fab Five seemed to popularize the ultra-baggy shorts ("bloomers," as John Wooden has called them) that are still in use.

Anyway, the Lakers' shorts aren't ultra-short, but they are considerably shorter than what you've seen for a decade or two.

Some of the Lakers have reacted with old-fashioned modesty. Concerned their legs are too skinny, I'd guess. Trevor Ariza is wearing undershorts that reach almost to his knees. Same deal with Kobe Bryant.

Derek Fisher is wearing them proudly. And the crowd just buzzed -- if you can imagine this, in L.A. -- at a closeup of Fisher's thighs. As if we were being treated to some sort of peep show.

Very odd.

The Celtics were supposed to be wearing short shorts, too, but they didn't really go all the way. Their uniforms are retro, but their pants are baggy. Still.

Anyway, I now remember how/why it was possible for a female sports writer, 30 years ago, to talk about her "All-Thigh Team" of basketball players. That's when you actually could see guys' thighs. Before we got trendy and then oddly prudish.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 7:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Man, this is an even bigger deal that I anticipated. The Lakers' game at Staples tonight vs. the Boston Celtics.

The Celtics are off to a 25-3 start and look like the team to beat for the NBA title, and the Lakersare 19-10 and surging a bit, themselves.

Anyway, the media crowd here is enormous, for a midseason game, the fans are buzzing and all sorts of random guys are showing up. Rick Fox, for instance, who played for both teams.

And Jerry West, just now introduced as the Lakers' honorary captain for the game.

West got a big ovation. And players from both teams surged forward to shake his hand, to hug the guy. And it strikes me anew just how massively popular West is in this market. I mean, does anybody dislike Jerry West? Anybody?

Anyway, West almost embodies the Lakers-Celtics rivalry. He was the Lakers' best player, along with Elgin Baylor, through the 1960s, when the Lakers and Celtics seemed to play for the NBA title every season -- and the Celtics won Every Single Time.

West got an NBA title in 1972, but it was over the New York Knicks. He never was around for a victory over the Celts.

Turns out the Lakers didn't actually beat the Celtics in a title series until 1985.

When West came out, the crowd went nuts, and Boston's Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce all pushed forward to shake his hand, and Kobe Bryant came over and hugged him, as well. Ol' Jerr. Zeke from Cabin Creek. Mr. Clutch. One of the handful of biggest stars in L.A. sports history, and he's in the house.

Anyway, big game. Great atmosphere. Better even than Christmas Day.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 6:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I already know Rick Neuheisel was a guy with baggage. I didn't begin to realize how much baggage until doing research on his history for the column that appeared in this morning's newspapers.

To read that column, click here.

This guy was explaining himself all the time. Like, three weeks into his hiring at Washington. It's really kind of amazing.

What I found is a history of behavior that ought to be scary for UCLA administrators.

My colleague Steve Dilbeck believes the Bruins know who they just hired and will keep him on a tight leash. To read that column, click here.

My take? UCLA shouldn't have hired a guy who needs close supervision.

He could work out. Could. If he manages to keep from tripping over the NCAA rulebook.

Another aspect of the Neuheisel historical record ... is how the programs he has run in the past (Washington, Colorado) did well enough his first two seasons ... then took big steps backward.

That would clearly suggest he is OK coaching other coaches' guys, but not so good at coaching his own -- or even finding them.

I don't like this hire. I believe it will end badly for the Bruins.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

How many times has this happened now? Somebody plays well for a while, we think there's a chance the Patriots might lose, and then the other guys just crumble in the face of the Patriots' relentless competence.

The New York Giants led 28-16 going into the fourth quarter, but New England scored three touchdowns -- including a 65-yard third-down pass to Randy Moss -- in the fourth quarter and won 38-35.

Both teams played their starters all the way, which is a credit to both teams because the game's outcome couldn't effect either team's playoffs standing.

The game turned on that third-and-long bomb to Moss, who was all alone up the sideline ... and then on an Eli Manning interception on New York's next possession.

That enabled the Patriots to take a 38-28 lead. The Giants scored in the final minute, but they were down to one timeout ... and when Mike Vrabel covered the onside kick, that was it.

Curious concept, of course, the way the game was televised on three networks -- the NFL, CBS and NBC. More than one network showing an NFL game ... hadn't happened since Super Bowl I, which even I am barely old enough to remember clearly.

The only downside to the game was Bryant Gumbel doing play-by-play. I don't mind Bryant for most stuff, especially Olympics topics, but he seems out of touch and out of place doing the NFL. He was fairly annoying.

Also annoying ... that the Patriots are 16-0. I don't like Bill Belichick, I don't like the Patriots' dink-and-dunk passing game and I think Boston has had way too much success of late.

But we have to concede that's a pretty special team. To take everybody's best shot, especially late here in the season when they had wrapped up the division title and even the home field, shows great focus and serious talent.

Now, for the playoffs. They need to win the Super Bowl to make their case for Best Team Ever ... but even at 16-0 they already have made history.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 8:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Bruins announced this just a few minutes ago. Onetime UCLA quarterback Rick Neuheisel will take over the football program, taking over for Karl Dorrell, fired back on Dec. 3.

Neuheisel will be part of what figures to be a barbed press conference, at 2 p.m. There will be questions about his ethics, given his shaky history at Colorado and Washington.

Neuheisel won out over current UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker and Philadelphia Eagles assistant John Harbold, best known as Jim Harbaugh's brother.

I liked Walker, from among those three. Neuheisel can mitigate Walker being overlooked by keeping him as defensive coordinator.

Here is the text of the UCLA announcement, received via e-mail:

RICK NEUHEISEL NAMED UCLA HEAD FOOTBALL COACH

Rick Neuheisel, who quarterbacked UCLA to victory in the 1984 Rose Bowl and who compiled a record of 66-30 as a collegiate head coach, has been named his alma mater’s 16th head football coach, Bruin athletic director Dan Guerrero announced today.

The energetic and personable Neuheisel returns to the collegiate ranks after spending the past three seasons in the NFL. In his eight years as a college head coach at the University of Colorado and the University of Washington, he fashioned a record of 66-30, winning at least 10 games on three occasions and finishing in the Top 10 on three occasions, and led his teams to seven bowl games. His winning percentage of .688 places him among the top 20 active coaches with at least five years in the Football Bowl Subdivision. He was also recognized as one of the nation’s top recruiters during his college coaching days.

“Rick has enjoyed great success throughout his career and we believe he is the coach who can take our program to the next level,” said Guerrero. “His teams at Colorado and Washington continually challenged for conference championships and national rankings and that is what we are looking to do at UCLA.

“Rick is an outstanding coach and recruiter. He is outgoing and personable and can motivate our players, fans and supporters. We believe he is well equipped to lead the program and attain the success all Bruin fans wish to achieve.”

“I know there are some issues in Rick’s past that concern our constituency. We have discussed those at length with Rick and have investigated those issues with the NCAA. It has been at least five years and, in some cases, more than 10 years since the incidents occurred. We believe Rick has learned from those incidents and that he is more mature and experienced in the areas of compliance.”

“I am thrilled to be returning to my alma mater as its head coach,” said Neuheisel. “UCLA is a special place and I want to thank Dan Guerrero and Chancellor (Gene) Block for the opportunity to come home. We are going to build a program our supporters will be proud of, both on and off the field. I can’t wait to get started. I made some mistakes earlier in my career and I take responsibility for those mistakes. I have learned from that experience and I would never do anything that would reflect negatively on UCLA.”

Neuheisel, 46, spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. He served as quarterbacks coach in 2005 and 2006 and in January of 2007, was promoted to offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach. With the Ravens, he worked with quarterbacks Kyle Boller, Steve McNair and, most recently, 2006 Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith.

During his four seasons (1999-2002) as head coach at the University of Washington, Neuheisel led the Huskies to a record of 33-16 (.673) and four bowl games (one Rose Bowl, two Holiday Bowls and one Sun Bowl). His Pac-10 record was 23-9 (.719) and Washington won one league title and finished second twice in those four seasons. The Husky offense averaged over 390 yards per game in each season, topped by 420.7 in 2002 (17th in the nation) and 407.9 in 2000 (35th).

In his final season, the Huskies finished 7-6 and tied for 4th in the Pac-10 while ranking fourth nationally in passing offense (346.2 yards per game) and earning a spot in the Sun Bowl.

In 2001, Washington finished 8-4 overall and second in the Pac-10 with a 6-2 mark, earning a trip to the Holiday Bowl. The Huskies faced five teams ranked in the final AP Poll that season, winning three of those games.

In 2000, Neuheisel led the Huskies to an 11-1 record, a first-place finish in the Pac-10 and a victory in the 2001 Rose Bowl. It was a year of great comebacks as Washington trailed in eight of its 11 wins and recorded five straight fourth-quarter comebacks. It marked the first time Washington had won 10 games since 1991 and the school’s first Rose Bowl title since that same season.

In 1999, his first season in Seattle, Washington finished 7-5 but finished second in the Pac-10, earning a trip to the Holiday Bowl. Neuheisel became the first coach in school history to lead a Husky team to a bowl berth in his first season.

During his four seasons (1995-98) as head coach at the University of Colorado, Neuheisel won 33 of 47 games (.702) and won all three bowl appearances. In his final season, Colorado finished 8-4, including a 51-43 victory over Oregon in the Aloha Bowl, and the Buffaloes ranked 13th nationally in total defense that year. In 1997, Neuheisel suffered his only losing season as a collegiate head coach (5-6) but Colorado still led the Big 12 in passing offense (232.4).

During the 1996 season, Neuheisel recorded his second straight 10-2 season, including a 33-21 victory over Washington in the Holiday Bowl, and finished second in the Big 12 North. The Buffaloes were ranked eighth on both polls and outscored opponents 319-199 while setting a school record by winning 10 consecutive road games. That team produced three All-Americans, including Butkus Award winner LB Matt Russell, and averaged 452.1 yards of offense, including 303.5 in the air, while allowing just 315.5 yards to opponents.

Neuheisel’s 20-4 record in his first two seasons were the fifth most wins at the time for a first-time head coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision (Division IA).

In his first season as a head coach (1995), Colorado finished fifth on both major polls. He guided the Buffaloes to a 10-2 record (the best ever by a first-year CU coach) and an appearance in the Cotton Bowl (a 38-6 win over Oregon), becoming the first rookie Colorado coach to take a team to a bowl game.

Neuheisel spent the 1994 season as a Colorado assistant coach under Bill McCartney after going to CU from UCLA.

Neuheisel spent six seasons (1988-93) as an assistant coach at his alma mater. During his final four years he tutored the wide receivers, helping to develop some of UCLA’s all-time great receivers, such as J.J. Stokes, Kevin Jordan and Sean LaChapelle. In 1993, Stokes helped the Bruins reach the Rose Bowl while setting school records with 82 receptions, 1,181 yards (since broken) and 17 touchdowns. LaChapelle made 73 receptions in 1991 and Jordan made 45 as a sophomore in Neuheisel’s last year (1993). In 1990, three Bruins – Scott Miller, Reggie Moore and LaChapelle – all made at least 35 receptions for at least 600 yards.

Neuheisel joined the UCLA staff full-time in 1988 and coached quarterbacks for two seasons, including NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman’s senior year (1988). Aikman earned consensus All-America honors and finished third in the Heisman Trophy race, completing a school record 228 passes (since broken) for 2,771 yards, a .644 percentage and a school record 24 touchdowns (since broken). Aikman was the No. 1 selection in the 1989 NFL Draft.

In 1986, he served as a volunteer coach and his major assignment was to teach the offense to a transfer from Oklahoma who had to sit out the 1986 season – Aikman.

The new Bruin head coach also played some professional football. In 1987, he played in three games with the San Diego Chargers and started twice. He completed 40 of 59 passes for 367 yards and one touchdown and also ran for a score. Against Tampa Bay, he completed 18 of 22 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown, setting a team record for completion percentage in a game (81.8%).

He also spent two seasons (1984 and 1985) in the United States Football League (USFL), playing with the San Antonio Gunslingers. In his rookie season, he completed 211 of 385 passes (.548) for 2,544 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Neuheisel began his collegiate career at UCLA (1979-83) as a walk-on, holding for place kicker John Lee, and earned the starting quarterback job during his senior season (1983). He led the Bruins to the Pac-10 title after a 0-3-1 start, earning honorable mention All-Pac-10 honors while completing 185 of 267 passes for 2,245 yards and 13 touchdowns. His completion percentage of .693 that season is still a school record. In a classic game against Washington, he completed 25 of 27 passes for a then-NCAA record .926 completion percentage in a 27-24 victory. That mark is still a UCLA record.

In his final game as a Bruin, he overcame food poisoning to lead UCLA to a 45-9 victory against Illinois in the 1984 Rose Bowl. He was named the game’s MVP after throwing for 298 yards and four touchdowns. In 1998, he was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame for his efforts.

During his career, he completed 198 of 290 passes for 2,480 yards and 15 touchdowns and his completion percentage of .683 is also a school record.

Neuheisel earned his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 1984. In 1986, while he was tutoring Aikman as a volunteer, he attended law school at USC and earned his degree in May of 1990.

Born February 7, 1961 in Madison, WI, he grew up in Tempe, AZ, attending McClintock High School. He and his wife Susan, a UCLA graduate, have three children, Jerry, Jack and Joe.

Rick Neuheisel’s Head Coaching Record

Year School W L T Pct. Conf. Finish Bowl Rank (AP)
1995 Colorado 10 2 0 .833 T-2nd Cotton 5th
1996 Colorado 10 2 0 .833 2nd North Holiday 8th
1997 Colorado 5 6 0 .455 T-4th North
1998 Colorado 8 4 0 .667 4th North Aloha
1999 Washington 7 5 0 .583 T-2nd Holiday
2000 Washington 11 1 0 .917 T-1st Rose 3rd
2001 Washington 8 4 0 .667 T-2nd Holiday 19th
2002 Washington 7 6 0 .538 T-4th Sun
Eight Years 66 30 0 .688 7 Bowls 3 Top-10

Statement from UCLA Chancellor Gene Block
“I'm pleased to welcome Rick Neuheisal back into the UCLA family as head coach of UCLA football. Rick is a proven talent, and the right person at the right time to lead our program to great success, both on and off the field, which is always our expectation at UCLA. Rick understands what it means to be a Bruin, and I have every confidence that he will maintain a first rate program that continues to bring pride to the entire UCLA family for years to come.”

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING --

Dick Vermeil, Super Bowl and Rose Bowl (UCLA) winning coach:
“Rick is a great hire for UCLA. I feel that way because first, he is a Bruin and he played for and coached with one of the great coaches in Terry Donahue. I had the opportunity to broadcast a number of his games as a head coach and I respected how he handled himself. Being in the NFL for the last three years is like going to grad school and I think that will be a great asset to him as he returns to college. I am very excited about this decision.”

Tom Ramsey, College Football Analyst and former UCLA record-setting quarterback:
“Rick is a former successful head coach in the Pac-10 and Big 12 and he has been a Rose Bowl champion as both a player and head coach. He knows that it takes from top to bottom to be successful at UCLA, having been there as a player, assistant coach and now head coach. He is also well versed in the Pac-10, thanks to his four winning years as head coach at Washington. Rick is a dynamic individual and he will be embraced and supported by the Bruin alumni.”

Terry Donahue, College Football Hall of Fame Head Coach at UCLA:
“I think Rick is a great hire for UCLA. He knows the UCLA situation as well as anybody. Rick is a proven head coach with a very successful record in the Pac-10 and he will be able to compete with any team in the conference. He will do a great job in attracting some of the best football players in the country to Westwood. It’s great that they have kept it in the Bruin Family. A lot of the former players and alumni will be excited about this hire.”

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 1:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This isn't how it's supposed to work, for Nick Barnett. The Green Bay Packers middle linebacker generally gets attention for tackling other people ... not being thrown by, of all people, an NFL referee.

But that is how it's turned out.

If you were watching highlights last weekend, you saw Barnett grabbed from behind and almost slung to the ground by official Jim Quirk. The word "takedown" came up a lot.

Quirk was trying to break up a scuffle, but he was a bit more interventionist than your normal peacekeeper.

Odd thing is, Barnett has been a mainstay of the Green Bay defense for years now, but the A.B. Miller alumnus may have gotten more attention for this than anything he did while playing defense.

Find a link to the news story here.

Barnett played on what certainly was the most talented A.B. Miller football team, the 1998 squad that went 9-1 in the regular season, losing only to Fontana. If Eisenhower hadn't been forced to forfeit eight games (which included a victory over Fontana), Miller would won a share of its first Citrus Belt League title. Instead, Fontana won it outright by virtue of its victory over Miller -- and a forfeit win over Ike.

That Miller team had skill all over the field, to the point that Barnett was perhaps the sixth or seventh most-recognized player for the Rebels that year. He played tight end and safety, and was hurt for part of the season, too.

Anyway, I can remember Miller coach John Tyree telling me, a decade ago, that Barnett was the best player on the team, which was hard to grasp, considering how high-profile so many other guys were. But Tyree was correct, of course. Several of those Miller guys had decent college careers, but Barnett was the only one to get to the NFL.

Maybe the Packers can do something in the postseason that will help us forget Barnett being flung to the ground by a guy in a striped shirt.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Somewhere, in one of the L.A. News Group's "platforms" I had the NBA Development League's "Mad Ants" as being a Bakersfield team.

Correction:

The Mad Ants play out of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

And it makes at least a little sense, now. The name. It doesn't have to be about angry emmets.

Remember your American history?

Anthony Wayne was the name of a U.S. general during the Revolutionary War. His nickname was "Mad Anthony" ... apparently because the after-effects of a head wound (a musket ball taken at the Battle of Stony Point, in 1779) caused him to have epileptic seizures.

"Mad Anthony" later led a very successful war against the Indians in Ohio, and grateful residents of a city in next-door Indiana named a city after him. Fort Wayne.

So ... Mad Ants? Mad Anthony, see? "Fort Wayne Mad Ants."

And we thought it was ticked off insects. In Bakersfield.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 8:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Holy mackerel. The search for Karl Dorrell's successor as UCLA coach has turned into a farce.

Here we are, 25 days after Dorrell was dumped, six days after the Bruins played in the Las Vegas Bowl, and UCLA is still mucking around on this.

The latest, according to colleague Brian Dohn:

Rick Neuheisel and DeWayne Walker remain in the running, and UCLA chancellor Gene Block is interviewing John Harbaugh today.

Harbaugh, defensive backs coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, is best known for being Jim Harbaugh's brother. And the only reason we can imagine why he's getting an interview today ... is the Bruins (or perhaps Block's) disenchantment with both Neuheisel and Walker.

For those not keeping score at home, the Bruins apparently have interviewed (or at least contacted) Steve Mariucci, Mike Bellotti, Chris Petersen (Boise State), Al Golden (Temple), Norm Chow and the three remaining candidates.

Bellotti was just messin' with the Bruins, looking for leverage (for more money/security) at Oregon. Chow and Golden removed themselves from the running when it became clear the Bruins didn't want them ... and Mariucci and Petersen apparently took a phone call and told UCLA not to bother.

Anyway, this has gone on forEVER. And none of the three remaining candidates is exactly perfect. I like DeWayne Walker, but he doesn't have head-coaching experience and Block and athletic director Dan Guerrero will catch heat if they hire him. Rick Neuheisel, former Bruin, has some fairly serious baggage from his days as coach at Washington and Colorado. And then there is The Wrong Harbaugh.

If the Bruins don't make an announcement tomorrow, Saturday, they may as well wait till the middle of next week, because their choice will be ignored amid the rush of sports news.

Or maybe that's how they want it, now that they've made such a mess of things.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 8:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sean Rooks, former Lakers and Clippers backup center, has been named interim coach of the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League.

Rook takes over, after this weekend, for former UCLA head coach Jim Harrick, who was struggling (3-14) in Bakersfield but insisted he resigned "for personal reasons."

Rooks was a standout center at Fontana High School in the late-1980s, then went to Arizona and played for Lute Olson. As a freshman he was part of a group of reserves who cheered enthusiastically and were known as "The Gumbys."

Rooks was a second-round NBA draft choice but never quite panned out as a top-echelon player.

Not that he didn't make some serious money. He signed a seven-year, $13.4-million contract with the Lakers in the summer of 1996 -- just before the Lakers signed Shaquille O'Neal. Meaning Rooks didn't have to do much heavy lifting, behind Shaq, while making millions per season with the Lakers.

Anyway, I didn't know he was into coaching. To the point that he will be considered as a candidate to keep the Bakersfield job full time.

Following is the release from the D League offices in New York.

NEW YORK, NY -- Dec. 28, 2007 == The Bakersfield Jam today announced that head coach Jim Harrick will be stepping down due to personal reasons following the team's game Dec. 29 against the Los Angeles D-Fenders.

Sean Rooks, the team's assistant coach and a veteran of 12 NBA seasons as a player, will take over the reins as interim head coach. His first test will come on Jan. 4 when the team visits the Utah Flash.

Harrick posted a 19-31 record last season, but the team finished strong, recording a 6-2 mark to close the campaign. This year the Jam currently stand at 3-14.

"It is with great sorrow that I relieve myself of coaching duties with the Bakersfield Jam," said Harrick. "I'd like to thank the ownership group and entire organization for the opportunity to help bring such a high level of basketball to the people of Kern County. Despite our slow start this season, I am confident the team is heading in the right direction and my only regret is not finishing the job I started."

Harrick's distinguished coaching career spans five decades and includes a national championship won at UCLA, a national coach of the year award, three Pac-10 titles, an Atlantic 10 tournament championship and five West Coast Athletic Championships.

The native of Charleston, West Virginia, began his collegiate head coaching career at Pepperdine University in 1979 where he led the school to four NCAA Tournament appearances. In 1988 Harrick replaced Walt Hazzard at UCLA and won the national championship seven seasons later. He then went on to lead Rhode Island from 1997-99 and Georgia from 1999-2003. After his tenure with the Bulldogs he retired from coaching and worked as a college basketball analyst.

"We're sad to see a man with such a great coaching pedigree and ambassador to the sport leave the Jam. Of course, we respect his decision and will provide any support he needs throughout his future endeavors," said Jam majority owner Stan Ellis.

Rooks, 38 began his NBA playing career after starring at Arizona. He was the third selection in the second round of the 1992 draft by the Dallas Mavericks, the team with which he spent his first two seasons. The 6-10 former center also had stints with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Hornets and Orlando Magic. He posted career averages of 6.2 points and 3.8 rebounds.

The Jam has already embarked on a search for Harrick's permanent replacement, with Rooks one of the potential candidates. Harrick has agreed to assist the team in their search in any way needed.

The NBA Development League is the NBA's official minor league, and the first-ever basketball league with direct affiliations to NBA teams. Now in its seventh season the D-League's goals are to provide affordable, NBA-caliber entertainment to fans of its 14 teams, as well as continue to develop players, coaches, referees and front-office personnel for the NBA. As the single source for in-season player "call-ups" to the NBA, fans of the D-League enjoy the highest caliber of basketball played outside the NBA. In fact, former D-League players represented 10 percent of NBA players on 2007-08 opening day rosters, numbering 44 in total. In addition, the D-League has produced 25 percent of current NBA referees and 16 current NBA coaches, including head coach Sam Vincent with the Charlotte Bobcats. The D-League is an innovative and rapidly growing sports property that also serves as an experimental testing ground for new initiatives of the NBA and its teams, provides continuing education and professional development resources for its players, and is committed to serving its local communities through D-LEAGUE CARES and grassroots efforts.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 8:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another reason to ignore calls for college football championship tournament:

Bowl games!

The way the bowl schedule is structured now, we get a bowl game nearly every day for three weeks.

It wouldn't work like that, if we had a 16-team playoff. They would all play on weekends, etc.

I like this way. A lot.

Right this minute, Arizona State is playing Texas. Great matchup. I will be watching soon. How good is ASU? Is Texas as down as it seems?

Last night, we could see a fairly exotic matchup -- Purdue and Central Michigan. I mean, don't you want to know what Central Michigan looks like? I do. Honest.

Tomorrow night we have our choice of three games, with three more Saturday, etc.

Before we end this splurge with the BCS title game on Jan. 7 ... we will have had a chance to watch 32 bowls in 19 days -- from Dec. 20-Jan. 7. The only days with no bowls? Dec. 24, Dec. 25 and Jan. 4.

Can't beat that with a stick. Good college football games almost every night! I love it.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 5:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Doug Stockham is well-known in the Inland Empire as one of the top prep basketball coaches of the past 30-plus years.

He won league titles with Riverside Ramona, Cajon, San Gorgonio and Westminster high schools.

His best teams probably were those he put on the floor at San Gorgonio from 1980 through about 1986. The 1981-82 team was particularly gifted, with Gerry Wright, Darryl Carter, Gilbert Quinbar, Pat Pruitt, Marvin Cash and Dave Sieger off the bench. That team went 29-1 and got to the CIF quarterfinals. The team he had the year before (Mike Jackson, Brad Miller, Vance Amador, Scott Bader, Wright) was 24-5 and also got to the quarterfinals.

Four of the guys off his 1981-82 team played major-college basketball, and Sieger eventually appeared in the NCAA championship game, playing for Oklahoma in its loss to Kansas.

Stockham, 65, has been a bit under the weather. He had heart surgery, twice, in October.

While working today on a piece for the Friday newspapers, I reached him at his mother's house in Fresno, where he is visiting for her 90th birthday.

He said the drive up was his first extended stint behind the wheel since his surgeries. But he's not ready to go back and see some prep basketball just yet.

"I'm not really ready to sit in the stands for two hours," he said. "I had a five-way bypass and I think two of them were probably from all the screaming I did as a coach."

Stockham said he went in for an angiogram at Redlands Community in October ... and before the day was over was in an ambulance to Saint Bernardine Medical Center in San Bernardino, where the operation was performed. He was back in the hospital a few days later with a blood clot caused, he said, by the ends of two wires (used to stitch up his sternum) that were irrititating his heart.

He said can feel improvement now, seven weeks later. Another few weeks, he may be ready for more hoops.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 4:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

San Bernardino Valley College has had some top-flight men's basketball teams of late, but the current edition of Wolverines is 3-10.

That doesn't worry coach Gerry Wright, who is in his first full season leading the program.

"We're off to shaky start," Wright said. "Not like last year's team. We'll see who's ready to step up.

"I'm still very optimistic about league. Very optimistic. I really believe we've got guys learning positions and plays day in and day out ..."

SBVC returns only three players from last year, and two are this season's top performers: Johnny Barnes, a 6-6 forward who was first team all-Foothill Conference a year ago and is averaging a double-double (20.9 points, 10.6 rebounds); and shooting guard Louis Leonard who leads the state in scoring at 27.9 points per game.

"I'm relying on other guys to step up and learn the offense," Wright said.

SBVC opens conference play at home vs. formidable Antelope Valley on Jan. 5. "May as well start with the best," Wright said.

SBVC is No. 10 in the state in scoring, at 86 points per game. But keeping the other guys under 86 is proving to be a challenge.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 10:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Phil Jackson has never been keen to brag on young players. Actually, he resists it actively. He doesn't even like young guys on his team, typically.

But it's getting harder and harder for him to refuse to compliment Andrew Bynum, his 20-year-old center.

Bynum scored 28 points, a career high, in the Christmas Day victory over the Suns, and added 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

Still, before and after the game, Phil was unimpressed. And I think it's about his not wanting Bynum to get smug and self-impressed. It wasn't long ago that the kid had trouble getting up and down the court without running out of gas.

Asked about Bynum's upper limits, Phil all but sighed before answering.

"When I was reviewing the tape and I heard (Lakers television announcer) Joel Meyers say, 'Get used to this, he’s going to be a 20 and 10 guy every night,' or something like that. That’s way too much pressure to put on this guy. Twenty and 10 is not even a mark we need to start prepping our audience for. Ten rebounds, yeah. Scoring-wise, he’s going to get points just being around the basket and getting feeds from his teammates. Like he is now.

"As his development comes, offensively, when he starts doing things where he can make moves and get a base and know where the spacing is ... those are all things that are going to come in time. Just have to wait. Right now, we’re pleased with the fact that he’s really a good defender and in the fact that he plugs the lane, does some good things on screen rolls at times and is effective at changing shots ... and the rebounds he gets are a big plus for our team."

Asked about his energy level, Jackson said, "He actually broke out in a run the other night, really, which is
something we’re always prodding him to get up and run. The other thing we’ve been working on is to take a charge. Those little things are developmental features of a player who has to be defensively sound. Get back on defense, gotta change the course of the game ...

"As a defensive center you have to do two things, take a charge and block a shot. And clog the lane. That’s part of it. Andrew is still learning those kinds of things. Those are the things we’re pleased he’s making attempts to do that. ... That was an area where he couldn’t quite break free and get out of the mode that he was in, that loaf that he was in, whatever."

Asked if he's in better shape, and how much impact his work with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has had:

"Andrew’s had a guy in here helping him work out. He’s had an effect on Andrew’s energy, working hard, putting him through paces five hours a day. Skill-wise, I don’t know what effect that guy has had on
him. Kareem, skill-wise ... there are things Andrew is learning from Kareem, but learning it, having to do it, recognizing, that process is slow."

Has he made a breakthrough?

"We just said last year that if he grows as much as he did from the beginning of last year and the end of last year, this season, you know, we can be competitive. We can actually think we can go out and compete and win some playoff games. We’re one third of the way through the season. We’ve still got a ways to go to see where’s he’s gonna be as far as his development. We’re really happy he can play the amount of minutes he can play."

About his lack of consistency:

"Everything has been done to accelerate Andrew’s development, from this organization bending over backwards to accommodate and we’re hopeful it doesn’t change the way he acts as a person. Some people
haven’t responded well because they’re too young and too pampered. Hopefully, Andrew is one of those guys who understand what the processis and grows into it."

Asked if someday the idea of trading Bynum for Jason Kidd would be ludicrous"

"It’s not ludicrous. Jason Kidd is an MVP player, a competitor to the gills. Any time a guy is a competitor to that level, there’s nothing that’s ludicrous about it."

Even after the game, Phil went out of his way to minimize Bynum's contributions.

"At the end of the year, if he is the MVP, then we'll say what a great year he's had."

Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni wasn't as circumspect.

"Bynum killed us," he said. "I don't know if he's up and coming ... he's there. The guy scores 28 with 11, 12, 13 rebounds. I don't know. I hope he's not up and coming."

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 10:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I wouldn't even mention this, but it's the sort of thing you never see on television. Because the TV guys go straight to tip-off -- if not later.

Anyway, this one cool thing the Lakers have been doing for at least two seasons now ...

They drape enormous sheets of fabric from the overhead scoreboard/video board.

Since the video is a hexagon, the huge white sheets look almost like a movie screen.

And the Lakers project onto the screen ... through some technical magic ... about 4-5 panels of highlights from team history. Jerry West running off the court. Shaq pouring champagne. Derek Fisher's memorable 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds to play, vs. San Antonio.

They do it while the arena is darkened, and it makes for a powerful visual tool.

Anyway, the Miami-Cleveland just ended 10 seconds ago, and that means we're about to tip off here ... and none of you at home saw the pre-game. As per usual.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bill Walton, the chatty know-it-all (and onetime great NBA center) this morning on ABC's pre-game show declared the Lakers to be "the second-best team in the Western Conference. Behind the Spurs, who are the gold-standard."

Before the game, I relayed to Phil what Big Bill said, and asked him how much credibility Bill has.

"None," said Phil, to the laughter of reporters gathered round.

It is a bit difficult to place the Lakers that high, even if Bill is expressing some filial piety here, what with his son Luke playing for the Lakers.

Last time we looked, Phoenix, Dallas, Utah and Houston still play in the Western Conference.

Phil's quick reaction also could be a function of another Walton comment, this morning. When he declared Jackson to be "pompous and arrogant."

Hmm. Don't-invitems?

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If it's Dec. 25, the Lakers are playing.

The past three seasons it was the Lakers and Heat so we could revel in the Kobe-Shaq feud. Which was, in fact, a bit hot for a year there, then went tepid, and then the Heat turned into the Clippers of the Eastern Conference.

But the Lakers are still playing on Christmas Day. Must be Kobe and Phil and the possibility of celebrity sightings that amuses network TV.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson, son of a minister, conceded to not being enthused about playing on Christmas. "But once the game gets going, you don't really notice anymore," he said.

The Lakers get the Phoenix Suns this time, and it should be a good barometer on how far the Lakers have come.

They trashed the Suns, in Phoenix, second game of the season, and have been competitive ever since. Be interesting to see if the Suns come out and try to run them into the ground ... or whether the Lakers' big men can slow things down and beat up the Suns down low.

One thing I'm rooting against: Overtime.

Christmas dinner is waiting me, and i plan to write (and file) quickly today.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And a very merry Christmas to you, too.

Every year, some sports organization isn't on board with the whole idea of holiday cheer and doesn't something rude on, generally, Christmas Eve. Like today.

This year, it's the Chicago Bulls and National Football League who get our Grinch awards.

The Bulls fired coach Scott Skiles. Sure, the team is 9-16 and underachieving, but how much of it is about the coach and how much about the early-season Kobe Bryant rumors? You remember that? When the Bulls struggled and fans were chanting "Kobe! Kobe!" I don't think the Bulls ever recovered from that.

To see the news story, click here.

The Bulls couldn't wait till Wednesday to fire the guy? I guess they just enjoyed the idea of letting the man go home and sit around with his family and wonder when he's going to get a job again.

Then we come to the NFL, which has the temerity to schedule a night game ... on Christmas Eve. I'm sure the players, coaches and fans appreciate that. Nothing like sitting in the cold for four hours when you ought to be sitting at home with friends and family. Not exactly a silent night.

The Broncos play the Chargers at San Diego tonight. Every other major-league pro sport is taking today off. The whole day. Which is right.

The NFL believes it is bigger than anyone and everything. Including religion.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For Sunday's newspapers I did a column suggesting/demanding that UCLA hire DeWayne Walker as their next football coach.

The key thing here ... is that the UCLA job is not one heavy-duty candidates want. That's why they have been ignored or spurned by all the folks with really impressive resumes. The Bruins have trouble paying top dollar, they don't pay their assistants particularly well, their facilties are second-tier, their admissions standards are starving them of talent, they play a few miles from the most powerful program in the nation ... and other than that, it's a great job.

So, they're down to three candidates, from what we can tell, and I like DeWayne Walker lots better than the fairly sleazy/cheesy Rick Neuheisel or the utterly anonymous (Temple coach?) Al Golden.

What surprised me is ... that people actually reacted to a column on UCLA football.

The most violent semi-informed reaction I know about ran on dumpdorrell.com ... where the anonymous writer suggested I don't have the journalistic right to make such a declaration. Clearly not understanding that I write columns, which are opinion/analysis pieces and, thus, not subject to the usual journalistic "fairness" concepts.

Anyway, people agitated about the Bruins' next FOOTBALL coach? I didn't know they had it in 'em. But go look at dumpdorrell.com, and you can see some.

The Bruins figure to finally fill this job by the end of the week. I sense Neuheisel is a slight favorite, mostly because I sense UCLA administrators fear the reaction from alums if they hire another guy with no history as a head coach (Walker, after Dorrell). A reaction they feel will be more extreme than if they hire a guy (Neuheisel) who left both Colorado and Washington under clouds of controversy.

Golden ... I don't think he's a real candidates. That would be an even tougher sell, with his 5-19 career record, than Walker or Neuheisel.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Patriots are 15-0 now, and they're going to go 19-0. I know it. It will happen. And it annoys me.

I'm pretty sure it also annoys most football fans. Most? Like, 98 percent of them who don't live in New England.

It ticks off NFL teams, too.

I made reference to this idea a week or so ago, but it hit me again today, and I'm going to suggest it again. Why the Patriots bug the NFL. And me.

The National Football League (and it's true at all levels of football, actually) really respects only those teams that are physically better than everyone else.

It's a physical game. A game of strength and speed and also of courage and recklessness. And if you run into a team that has oodles of that, and they just kick your butt up and down the field, you have to respect that. And football teams always do. "Man, they handled us."

The thing about the Patriots? They are the all-time finesse team.

That's not to say they don't have some tough guys, some people who can impose their will on your, mano a mano.

But what separates these Patriots from just about any team that ever existed is how the Patriots just out-wit you and carve you up with Tom Brady's short-range passing.

It's like being cut to pieces by a skinny little rapier, rather than hacked to death with an ax. Football people can accept the latter; the former enrages them. Death from a thousand cuts is not how they want to go.

Today, the Patriots actually ran for some yards, mostly because the Miami Dolphins are horrible. But even against the worst team in the league, the Patriots came out and passed on their first six, seven, eight plays. Because that's what they do. Pass. Dink. Nibble you to death with 4-yard passes.

It isn't a "manly" way to play the game. And I know, they don't give the Lombardi Trophy to the team that is the roughest and toughest. They give it to the team that scores the most points.

It's just that for nearly all of football's history, the team that scores the most also was the most physically imposing. These Patriots are not that. And it's unnatural. It's wrong. I hate it.

The Patriots defeated Miami 28-7. All that's left between them and a perfect season is the New York Giants. Then the roll through the playoffs, the inevitable rout of the NFC champ in the Super Bowl ... and it's going to bug me for years. If the '72 Dolphins are any indication ... it could be decades before another team is perfect. Ack.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 6:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At least the moon is full. It won't be massively dark out there.

I've made this trip dozens of times. Scores of times, maybe. Come to Vegas, see some significant event, write about it, drive back.

It can be tricky, leaving Las Vegas at 10, 11, maybe even midnight.

But there are good reasons to get outta this town as soon as possible.

First, well, I don't really like Las Vegas. I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to. I certainly don't want to pay to stay in a hotel, which are tough to get to, in terms of traffic, on a Saturday night, and loud and noisy.

Second, I prefer not to drive the next day. Why ruin TWO days with long commutes?

Third, if you don't get outta Las Vegas by about 10 a.m. on a Sunday, you risk getting stuck in the traffic jams that inevitably pop up on the 15.

There's nothing more frustrating than sitting at a dead stop on the 15 -- in the middle of the desert, with no on- or offramps anywhere to be seen. Just you and a few thousand other cars. Idling.

Flip side: I like driving at night, especially in the desert. It's usually clear, and you can see a million stars all around, as The Eagles would say, and even if the route is getting busier and busier ... there's still something inviting about blowing through Baker at 1 a.m., heading for Barstow and beyond.

And the challenge of "will I stay as wide awake as I need to?" is always interesting. It can be a battle, but I've made it back every time so far. Let's see if I can extend the streak by one more.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UCLA almost won this thing, and I certainly didn't see that coming.

The beaten-down, banged-up Bruins who all but laid down vs. USC ... showed up at the Las Vegas Bowl and played hard and played well, and would have upset the 17th-ranked BYU Cougars had not Kai Forbath's 28-yard field goal attempt as time expired been deflected.

To me, this means one thing:

DeWayne Walker should be the next UCLA coach.

It was Walker who took over as interim coach when Karl Dorrell was fired, and Walker managed to pull together a messed up team and get it to perform at something close to its peak against BYU.

UCLA's defense was daring and imaginative, as it has been all along during Walker's two seasons here.

But his imprint also showed on offense, where the Bruins were careful ... but took chances when they needed to. Such as on their final drive, when McLeod Bethel-Thompson -- the redshirt walk-on freshman last seen giving up four turnovers in the embarrassing loss to Notre Dame -- led the Bruins from their own 2 to the BYU 11 with five seconds to play.

That's when Kai Forbath came on, a guy who already had kicked field goals of 22, 52 and 50 yards, for a 28-yard try that may have been just a smidge low. A BYU defensive lineman stuck his hand in the air, and got just enough of the ball to direct it wide of the goalposts. And there was BYU's narrow victory.

Walker ought to be the next UCLA coach, and he may now have a chance to be it. He is scheduled to meet with UCLA chancellor Gene Block this week, the last step before potentially getting the job.

It appears as if the only candidates now are Rick Neuheisel, UCLA alumnus and former Washington and Colorado coach, and Walker.

Neuheisel is dogged by character issues and a couple of programs that he left worse off than he found them. But he has name recognition ... far more than does Walker.

That doesn't mean Walker shouldn't be the next coach. He should.

What we're about to find out is if Block and athletic director Dan Guerrero have the wit and wisdom to hire the best candidate -- who happens to be right under their noses.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 9:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It's BYU 17, UCLA 13 at the half, and it shouldn't be this close. But BYU all but gave UCLA a touchdown on the final play of the half.

BYU fielded a punt at the 8, and one play later Harvey Unga fumbled when hit in the backfield by Brian Price. When BYU could have taken a knee at the 4 and killed the half.

The fumble was recovered by UCLA safety Dennis Keyes at the BYU 4.

After an incomplete pass by McLeod Bethel-Thompson, MBT found Brandon Breazell on a crossing pattern in the back of the end zone and threw a very nice ball -- for a touchdown.

I wouldn't expect UCLA to win this thing, because BYU has enormous advantages at quarterback and receiver.

But the Cougars have made enough ball-control errors to give the Bruins 10 points, and they're still hanging around.

And another thing: McLeod Bethel-Thompson isn't the athelte Osaar Rasshan is, but at least he can throw a football where he plans for it to land, and we can't really say that about Osaar.

Look for MBT to play in the second half. All of it.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 6:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BYU just took a 10-3 lead, and you have to wonder if this game is over.

The Bruins offense is a mess. They're interchanging their Nos. 3-4-5 quarterbacks, and Chris Markey is only semi-healthy at QB>

UCLA already got a turnover in BYU territory, and got only three out of it.

And now you have to wonder how the Bruins are going to score any more points.

The running game they used early is being choked off. BYU is daring the Bruins to pass, and Osaar doesn't do that. And nteither, apparently, does Bethel-Thompson McLeod -- who may have the weirdes quarterback name I've ever seen, but I digress.

Barring a special teams big play (always a possibility with Matthew Slater returning kickoffs), or a defensive touchdown, UCLA may be done scoring.

UCLA is taking over at its 24. McLeod Bethel-Thompson is still at QB. He can throw a little, but he has no mobility, and his entire experience is the Notre Dame game, which

We're wondering if Rasshan is hurt. UCLA spent a lot of time getting him ready for the game, and it seems odd they would give up on him so soon ... but who knows. They might have just decided he wasn't going to get it done. It's not like they haven't benched him before. (See: Oregon game.)

Oh, and another three and out, with Dominique Johnson dropping a well-thrown Bethel-Thomspon ball on what would have been a 40-yard gain.

Ack.

When was the last time the UCLA offense was this bad? Ever? Never? Sure, injuries, etc., but even taking that into account, they are seriously inept. To the point that we're almost halfway through the second quarter and UCLA still hasn't comoleted a pass.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 6:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With Ben Olson's knee still a mess, and Patrick Cowan out, Osaar Rasshan started for the Bruins at quarterback.

Rasshan is the Pomona Garey alumnus who started the season as a receiver ... after being recruited out of high school as a quarterback.

Rasshan played most of the first quarter, throwing one pass (incomplete) and handing off to Chris Markey well enough that the Bruins got a field goal on their first possession.

UCLA's first play appeared to be indicate they were going to run the spread offense, with Rasshan deep in the backfield, with Markey. But that is the only time the Bruins have been in the formation so far.

The rest of the quarter, Rasshan was lined up under center ... and the Bruins were struggling.

Then, on the last two plays of the first quarter, receiver Brandon Breazell took one snap at quarterback and McLeod Bethel-Thompson took one snap.

Meaning Rasshan may be benched, arleady ... and also meaning UCLA has played FIVE quarterbacks this year. If we count Breazell as the fifth, and we may as well -- he probably throws the ball better than Rasshan, anyway. Maybe Bethel-Thompson, too.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 5:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lots of traffic on the way up here. Took me more than four hours to do 230 miles or so, which surprised me a little.

Coming up here for boxing matches, over the years, I pretty much could count on doing it in less than three hours.

But it seems as if tens of thousands of SoCal residents have decided Las Vegas is the perfect place to spend part of the Holiday Weekend. I know because I had them in front of me, behind me, next to me all the way up the I-15.

Traffic was at a dead stop about 30 miles short of Baker. Which always kills me. No on ramps, no way the traffic can get any worse, and we're all stopped? I have trouble with the concept. How does that happen?

Sure, there was a wreck, eventually, but there were other serious slowdowns ... all the way to the Nevada state line, where we regained a third lane.

Anyway, Christmas in Vegas? I don't think so. I'm more of a Silent Night, Holy Night guy, and this is the antithesis of that.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 5:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First time I've ever seen a football game in Las Vegas, which means I'm at San Boyd Stadium.

Place holds about 36,000, and most of the seats seem to be filled, which is something of a surprise, considering it's a game featuring a 6-6 UCLA team.

But BYU always is a big draw here, so we've got some people watching.

Kind of an interesting place. It's nowhere near UNLV or The Strip. In fact, it's on the eastern edge of town, about halfway to Arizona, it would seem.

This is no glamor locale. Smallish, with little or no history. This isn't the Arroyo Seco; it's desert scrub.

But it's probably all Las Vegas really needs. Not prime real estate, so no one ever will covet the acreage it sits on. Not too big, so you don't need a big crowd to make the place feel crowded.

The NFL will never play here, and if UNLV's football team ever needs a stadium that holds more than 36,000 ... well, don't hold your breath.

It's a horseshoe-shaped, one level stadium. Some club seats in the press-box high rise on the west side of the stadium. So it works.

Just kinda in the middle of nowhere. Just kinda a place you don't really want to spend your bowl season playing in.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 5:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm at the Las Vegas Bowl, and UCLA is about to kick off to BYU.

It's easy to dismiss this as a meaningless game ... especially for the Bruins.

But we think otherwise.

This game could be very meaningful for UCLA.

It could determine who coaches the Bruins in the near future..

DeWayne Walker is the interim coach, taking over for Karl Dorrell. And he is one of the handful of candidates still in the running for the UCLA job.

Rick Neuheisel, UCLA alumnus and current offensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens, is the only other serious candidate still in the running.

The man UCLA names as coach of the team, next week, could hinge on how well the Bruins play tonight.

If UCLA stinks it up, Neuheisel likely will be the next UCLA coach.

If UCLA wins or even is competitive, Walker could be your man. Even with his lack of head-coaching history on his resume.

That makes this game worth watching.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 5:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One vowel difference between them. Which created a lot of confusion for me, anyway.

Mark Mangino is the oversized coach of Kansas football. The Jayhawks are 11-1 and headed to the Orange Bowl.

Eric Mangini is coach of the New York Jets, the guy who blew the whistle on Bill Belichick and the illegal sideline filming.

Mangino/Mangini. Neither guy very prominent until this season.

It was one of those things ... when Kansas was going good, I thought, "Oh, yeah, that's the man-jeen-something coach."

Then when the Jets were in the news, I was thinking, "OK, that's the man-jeen-something guy."

Only in the past few weeks have I realized these are two different guys with almost identical surnames.

Most of this ... is about too many names and numbers in the world to keep track of.

Only recently did I realize Shavlik Randolph and Zach Randolph are different guys. I thought maybe the first was the real first name of the second. And don't get me started on the NFL's two (at least) Steve Smiths and Roy Williamses ...

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 2:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ontario Reign. That's the name operators of the trust-us-it's-coming ECHL pro hockey club have chosen for their team.

The announcement came today, chosen from more than 600 entries, according to the club's website. Mike Brewster of Fontana is credited with the submission and will get two season tickets to the club's first season, 2008-09.

The Reign will be the primary tenant at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, the $150 million building going up fast just north of I-10, between Milliken and Haven.

Not sure how much I like the name, Reign.

OK, no, I don't like it.

I've never been keen on non-plural "concept" names. Like Jazz, Heat, Galaxy, etc.

Ever notice that big-time franchises rarely go with the singular stuff? No singular team names in the NFL or in major-league baseball. Only the two in the NBA, unless I've forgotten one of them, and that's probably telling in itself.

But scads in the minors. Right around here, too. San Bernardino's California League team previously was known as "Spirit" and "Stampede." It's the Lake Elsinore Storm. Bakersfield Blaze. The Anaheim Arsenal of the NBA D-League.

Actually, I prefer the really silly plurals to almost all concept names. Such as the "Bakersfield Mad Ants" of the D-League, or the "Modesto Nuts" of the Cal League.

Reign. Hmm. I see what they're going for, in terms of the Inland Empire. An empire reigns over a territory. OK, sure. And I know it's tough to come up with a name that somebody else on the planet doesn't already have, which can screw up your website/domain name, etc. And if they are affiliated with the L.A. Kings, sure.

(Note: To read about the Ontario Reign you still have to go to ontarioprohockey.com ... no link yet to ontarioreign.com)

But to hear the word "reign" ... well, it sounds like "rain" and we don't get any of that. Sounds almost mocking. And, then, most Americans have trouble distinguishing between reign, rain and rein. So it's going to be misspelled a lot.

Mostly, it's the singular concept. I was predisposed not to like it.

What would I have preferred? I'd like to see the list of names the club got. I bet I would have liked several of them more than Reign. Maybe Ice Monsters. Emperors. Emperor Penguins. Just riffing here. Eskimos. Inland Outlaws (with In-N-Out as a major sponsor) ... Ontario Flyers, but Philly has that name ...

Reign. Hmm. Will take some getting used to. Though some names never really catch on. "San Bernardino Spirit" being the perfect example. People called the team "Spirits" right through to its first name change.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

John David Booty has been in the back of my mind for a month or two. Mostly in terms of "he's not really that good, is he?" And, "when is he going to be the Heisman candidate he was supposed to be?"

Here we are, in the run-up to the Rose Bowl, and we can say Booty has had only two good games this season, Washington State and Arizona State.

Two batches of news made me think more about JDB.

1. The shaping consensus ... that as many as four current USC players will be selected in the first round of the 2008 NFL draft, probably in this order: defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis, offensive tackle Sam Baker, cornerback Terrell Thomas, tight end Fred Davis.

2. An ESPN.com ranking of the NFL's top 64 quarterbacks (see it here before espn.com takes it away) ... and wondering where Booty would fit in with those guys.

If you were able to see the list (it's one of those "pay-per-view things the site allowed us to peek at, Wednesday morning) includes the likes of Dan Orlovsky, Jamie Martin and Anthony Wright ... but is Booty even as good as those guys?

He's not very tall, so vision is, literally, an issue. He has had passes tipped at crucial moments in his career.

His arm strength looks only average. USC has two pass plays this season -- talking 12 games here, nine of which Booty started in -- for more than 35 yards. Thus, Booty's ability to throw down the field is absolutely in question.

Matt Leinart is listed as the league's 22nd best quarterback, and if he's that far down the line (which seems about right, really) ... and he was miles better, at USC, than was Booty ... well, is Booty going to help anyone in the NFL?

Just wondering. I doubt he is an early-round (1-2) pick. I'm not sure how sophisticated the offense he's coming from is. I'm not sure he is big enough or strong enough or accurate enough on anything down the field to stick in the NFL.

We will see.

Anyway, if you can't get to the story ... the espn.com top 10 QBs are fairly predictable: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Tony Romo, Ben Roethlisberger, Carson Palmer, Matt Hasselbeck, Drew Brees, Donovan McNabb, David Garrard. The second 10: Jay Cutler, Derek Anderson, Marc Bulger, Jeff Garcia, Vince Young, Philip Rivers, Eli Manning, Jason Campbell, Jon Kitna, Jake Delhomme.

Rex Grossman is listed No. 25, Alex Smith at 29, Brodie Croyle at 47 and Cleo Lemon at 57. I included those last two because they are the lowest-ranked starting QBs in the NFL.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ivan Johnson is the huge load of a basketball player who didn't exactly lead Cal State San Bernardino to the NCAA Division II semifinals ... but he certainly had a lot to do with the Coyotes getting there, last March.

We saw that he had been selected by the Anaheim Arsenal of the NBA Development League, the route he chose rather than go to some European outpost and play for probably better money.

Anyway, Ivan didn't do much of anything for the first three weeks of the season. He didn't play at all in the Arsenal's first three games (all of which it lost), then had five games of erratic near-nothingness, playing limited minutes and racking up almost as many fouls as points.

Then came Sunday's home game vs. Bakersfield.

Ivan went off for 27 points, five rebounds and four steals in 33 minutes as Anaheim rolled over Bakersfield 119-109.

Johnson was 9-of-14 from the field and 7-for-7 from the line. He had four fouls in a league that allows six.

And this is all is SO Ivan Johnson.

If you saw him play at Cal State S.B. last season, you know how erratic he can be. If he gets a couple of early fouls (and he almost always does), he can get frustrated, and he disappears or, worse, loses his temper.

He also can seem to pout. He hadn't scored more than seven points in his first five games. Actually, he had almost as many fouls (18) as points (19) in those five games.

But if he gets on a roll, and the refs let him play, he is such a powerful guy (6-8, 230) that he can bully his way to the hole ... but he can also score on nice, soft jumpers up to 18 feet.

The trick for Ivan is going to be showing some sort of consistency. And getting in shape, which tends to be an issue for him, too.

The D-League is THE official waiting room for the NBA. If Ivan can put up a string of 20-point games, and rebound a bit more, and be more intelligently physical than he tends to be (his fouls are mostly of the ticky-tack variety) ... he WILL be seen and noticed and he will get a shot with somebody in the NBA. One of those 10-day contract deals where he will have a chance to show he belongs.

The key is ... going for 27 more often than once every six games. The NBA is always open to 6-8 guys ... but they have to show they can perform with some level of predictability.

Just FYI: Ivan's teammates include former USC standout Lodrick Stewart and former Phoenix Suns and BYU-Hawaii guard Yuta Tabuse, a native of Japan.

Steven Smith, a 6-8 forward out of LaSalle, is Anaheim's leading scorer at 18.8 ppg; Guillermo Diaz, a 6-2 guard from Miami, is right behind Smith, at 18.0 ppg.

Oh, and the team's web site lists Ivan as having attended "No College." We'll have to point that out to the team.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Maybe you've heard. Michael Vick, former Atlanta Falcons superstar quarterback, sentenced to 23 months in prison for his part in the dogfighting mess in Virginia.

With time off for good behavior, he might be out of the stir in October of 2009, serving 20 months.

Just another case of an athlete who thought he was above the law, bullet-proof, being slapped in the face by cold, hard reality.

A couple of thoughts here:

1. Vick's career isn't officially over, but it's going to be a rough road back. He will miss three entire seasons -- 2007, 2008, 2009. (It's hard to imagine he will be in any position to walk out of prison in October, 2009, and be playing football before the season ends.)

He won't be particularly old (29), and the time off may save him from a lot of wear and tear. But is there anyone who ever came back, successfully, at the NFL level, after three years out of the game? I'm gonna say: "No."

Not that it can't be done. Actually, I believe he WILL get a chance to play for someone, given the sorry state of NFL quarterbacks. But it's hard to imagine his skills not eroding seriously during a three-year break. He won't be the same guy. On a bunch of levels.

2. In a world where murderers walk around, free, on legal technicalities ... does the sentence seem a bit harsh? It's easy to get angry with a man who treats animals as cruelly as Vick did ... but can we put it in the context of a system that so often is so lenient toward people who actually kill other PEOPLE?

(One recent example: Actor Lane Garrison of the show "Prison Break" killed one kid and injured two others while driving drunk. He got 40 months, in October, but his attorney said he will serve less than half that -- 20 months. Same as Vick will serve.)

One year in prison would have been more than enough to get across the message that dogfighting is a crime, and to dissuade Michael Vick from getting anywhere close to a dogfight ever again. And isn't that, really, the point of this whole exercise?

And, remember: The feds recommended Vick get a sentence of 12-18 months. He got 23. His bad fortune to get the wrong judge.

3. Which reminds me ... does it strike anyone as interesting that American society freely uses the word "dogfight?" It can be about aerial/warplane fights to the death ... and sports figures often have used it to describe a particularly tough, violent encounter. "Man, that was a dogfight." Most football players have heard coaches say, "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."

Thus, can we agree that at some point in our not-so-distant past the concept of a dogfight was not exotic, in American culture? That we all knew what it was? Because the terminology survives to this day, even if most of us have never been to a dogfight and don't know anyone who has.

And let's just remember Michael Vick comes from rural Virginia.

Michael Vick earned punishment. I don't think he earned punishment this severe.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This was supposed to be The Game the Patriots Lost. Not that I ever really believed -- the Patriots have crushed every team this season that got their attention. Even vaguely.Those two close calls the past two weeks ... I mean, those were the Eagles and Ravens, middling competition that snuck up on a team that shifted into cruise-control after beating the Colts to get to 9-0.

They were focused and ready for the Steelers, and it wasn't close.

By the tenor of the hed, above, you are correct in assuming I don't like the Patriots, I don't like New England/Boston and I don't like Bill Belichick, the arrogant cheater who runs the team with such brilliance. It's frustrating to think this guy almost certainly WILL get his team to 19-0 by the time the season is over, and I hate the idea of Belichick as the only 19-0 coach ever.

Anyway, yeah, the past two weeks, if you saw those games, the Patriots were the team that showed up flat and disinterested ... and then just flipped a switch in the final minutes to extract victories.

When you've got their attention, well, good luck. As the Steelers can tell you, trailing 34-13 with a few minutes left.

I am reminded of what Pete Carroll said a few weeks ago, when asked about the Patriots -- a team he coached for three years in the late 1990s, remember.

He said he knew one or two of the coaches there, and one of them told him, "Tom Brady is playing at a level nobody has ever seen before."

If you're watching this game, you know what that Patriots coach was talking about.

The Patriots threw the ball. All day. Play after play after play. Not only were they able to get away with it, they thrived on it. Because Brady basically NEVER throws a bad ball.

Pittsburgh is caught up in the basic Brady dilemma:

1. You drop seven, eight and rush three or four ... and Brady throws a completion because he has too much time, and your seven or eight can't cover his receivers that long.

2. You blitz, send an extra guy almost every play, and Brady always, ALWAYS finds the "hot" receiver on the short route, the one left open by the blitz, and the Patriots get 7-8 yards anyway. This is how the Steelers tried approached the game, and they were shredded.

Now and then, Brady's receivers drop a ball, and maybe it gets to, say, 3-and-2 ... but the Patriots (and Brady) seem able to throw for a first down without any problem.

An interesting part of this team ... is how it seems to infuriate opponents. The Steelers lost their composure, toward the end, just as the Ravens did (in spades) last Monday.

I'm thinking it stems from the Patriots' non-physicality (if that's a word). They don't power the ball at you; they barely run it at all. Their defense is fine, but not Steel Curtain-ish. So teams show up thinking they're tougher than the Patriots, and maybe they actually are, and believe they prov it on the field. But not on the scoreboard, because the Patriots finesse them to death. Usually by a a couple of touchdowns. Or four. And it drives NFL guys nuts, which leads to all the personal fouls late. Frustration, pure and simple.

I absolutely see them winning the Super Bowl. Home field, time to prepare, focus all set. Done and done.

And now they're down to three regular-season games, home games against the Jets and Dolphins, which will be blowouts. Over the Jets, because it was the Jets who turned in Belichick, and this is the ultimate payback game for them ... and because the Dolphins are so horrible they're about to become the first team to go 0-16 in NFL history.

Then the Patriots finish on the road with the Giants. There is a tiny, remote chance they could lose this game ... because the Giants could be playing for the postseason, and the motivation of playoffs checks can take pros to another level.

But the Patriots would be playing for 16-0, and Belichick will play all his starters, even if they should take a week off. He wants that 19-0.

Anyway, I'm sick of the Patriots. This will be, what, four NFL titles in six years? (Unless the Colts get healthy enough to go into New England in the AFC title game and somehow win a shootout ... or Brady gets hurt. That's the big one. Brady getting hurt.)

I'm sick of New England/Boston which suddenly is winning EVERYTHING. The World Series, the Super Bowl ... the Celtics look like one of the best 2-3 teams in the NBA. Even Boston College in football and hoops is good. Geez.

Final: 34-13. I'm disappointed, but not surprised.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you saw Floyd Mayweather Jr. outpoint Oscar De La Hoya back in May ... well, this fight was the complete opposite of that one.

Oscar tried to outpoint "Pretty Boy" ... tried to outpunch him, and it turned out to be an artistically interesting but emotionally unsatisfying fight.

Ricky Hatton didn't bother with all that blocking and parrying. He just waded in and tried to brawl. Which made for a fairly ugly fight but a satisfying one. Make sense?

Hatton carried the fight early, but Mayweather isn't the planet's "best pound for pound" boxer for no reason. He had a plan.

He let Hatton push him onto the ropes, but usually landed one sharp shot to the head before Hatton got inside ... and then clinched and grabbed and tied up Hatton ... keeping him from working the body effectively, or sneaking in head shots.

Hatton led early thanks to his aggression and energy ... but by the middle rounds Mayweather was spending more time in the middle of the ring, where his six-inch reach advantage told on Hatton's face.

In Round 10, probably knowing he was behind on the judges' cards, Hatton went chasing Mayweather into a corner, hoping to land a left hook.

But while Hatton's hook was en route, a left hook of Mayweather's crashed into Hatton's temple with severe violence, essentially knocking him out on his feet.

Hatton pitched forward, his head crashing into the turn buckle, and he bounced off and fell backwards, hitting the deck. He was up a few seconds later, but it was clear he was in major trouble, and Mayweather is too good to not know when a guy is only barely conscious.

Mayweather closed in, landed two, three more head shots, and even as referee Joe Cortez grabbed Mayweather to halt the proceedings, Hatton went to the canvas again. And it was doubly over.

Hatton is crude, a charging bull of a fighter, but without much punching power -- at the 147-pound limit, anyway. He is brave, and he is relentless, but he took too much punishment getting close and did very little damage once he got there.

Hatton's fans made the event memorable. Some 6,000 Britons were inside the MGM Grand Garden, and they chanted and sang for much of the fight. It was a great atmosphere.

Mayweather is talking about taking off a big chunk of time, but he's more marketable right this moment than ever -- thanks to Hatton's clumsy rushes, which required Pretty Boy to do more than his usual float-like-a-butterfly, hit-and-run shtick.

Now we've been reminded that Floyd can hit and be hit, and I'm way more interested in seeing his next fight than I was after the Oscar technique-fest.

Big purses usually lure fighters into the ring. Expect to see Mayweather back out there again in 6-9 months, maybe vs. Miguel Cotto. Maybe for a rematch with Oscar.

Hatton? I'm sure he's still a hero in England, the gutty little lad from the Midlands ... but any idea that he is some sort of elite fighter should be well and truly put to rest, now.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

That's 16 consecutive seasons that a San Bernardino County football team has won at least one CIF-Southern Section championship.

Colony swamped Canyon Springs 41-14 on a soggy Friday night in Ontario.

Colony was S.B. County's only dog in the title-game hunt; only three county teams made the semifinals, and the other two (Colton, Redlands East Valley) lost in the semifinals.

Here is the list of S.B. County schools that have won football titles, going back to 1992:

Year: School (Division won)

2007: Colony (Central)

2006: Colony (Central), Big Bear (East Valley)

2005: Aquinas (XII)

2004: Serrano (VIII)

2003: Kaiser (VIII)

2002: Kaiser (VIII), Ontario Christian (XII)

2001: Arrowhead Christian (XIII)

2000: Upland (II), Aquinas (XIII)

1999: Rancho Cucamonga (V), Bloomington (VIII)

1998: Bloomington (VIII)

1997: Chino (IV), Bloomington (VII), Arrowhead Christian (XII)

1996: Alta Loma (IV), Bloomington (VII), Yucca Valley (XI), Arrowhead Christian (XII)

1995: Upland (VI)

1994: Alta Loma (VI), Bloomington (VIII)

1993: Eisenhower (I)

1992: Big Bear (X)

The streak almost has three more years on it. Eisenhower was unbeaten, nationally top-ranked and favored to win the Division I title at Anaheim Stadium in 1991, but Mater Dei staged a 35-21 upset.

Had Ike won that game, we could add Etiwanda's 1990 title and Fontana's 1989 championship ... and be at 19 consecutive seasons.,

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am in, oh, I suppose you could even call it "mourning," over the prep football game that is NOT happening tomorrow:

Redlands East Valley vs. Corona Centennial for the Inland Division CIF-SS championship, noon kickoff, Home Depot Center.

It was going to be 13-0 REV vs. 12-1 Centennial, with the winner in good position to play for the STATE large-schools championship next weekend.

And then it started raining last Friday, and didn't let up until REV had fumbled three times and thrown two interceptions in a 25-10 loss to a Corona Santiago team they should have beaten.

I don't blame anyone; if that game is played on a dry field, which we have here about 355 days a year ... REV probably beats a 7-4 team.

I rue REV's defeat mostly because it would have meant for at least one Big Game this season. Maybe two.

There was a time when we fairly regularly had big games ... BIG games ... involving San Bernardino County football teams. From 1976 through 1993, Citrus Belt League schools (Fontana, Eisenhower, Redlands, Colton, even San Gorgonio) played for the "large schools" CIF championship no fewer than nine times. In 18 seasons.

The eastern half of San Bernardino County was the epicenter of top-flight prep football for almost a generation, there, and those of us who lived through it as journalists, coaches, players, fans ... perhaps we got a little spoiled.

Thing certainly have changed, since. CIF football titles have been won around here since then, for sure, but all of them in the lower divisions. Wonderful accomplishments, but not the sort of "the whole Southern Section is watching" games we got used to between '76 and '93.

Had REV won last week ... we would have had one of those games for the first time in 14 years. Centennial is the top-rated Division I school in SoCal polls, and REV would have been close behind ... and a victory over Centennial very likely would have put REV into the state title game the following week and ...

Well, it would have been as huge as these things get, these days.

(Redlands got to the Inland semis last year, and lost a weird, OT game to eventual champ Norco, but the Terriers weren't going to play for a state title, even had they won out; they weren't as highly regarded in the polls.)

I'm sorry REV-Centennial didn't happen. Self-pity is involved, for sure ... but I feel bad for anyone under 25 who never has had the chance to see a local team play in a seriously important/widely watched game.

Could have happened.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I would rather have Torii Hunter than Andruw Jones. I would rather have Aaron Rowand than Andruw Jones.

And I certainly wouldn't give $36.2 million to Jones for two seasons. Not after reports out of Atlanta that Jones is gaining weight, slowing down and living off his reputation as a top center fielder. And not after noting he batted .222 last season, with a .311 on-base percentage -- a number so low it would embarrass Juan "The Outmaker" Pierre.

The Dodgers also are giving a $4 million-a-year raise to a guy who just had the worst season of his career.

But I can't get too agitated at Dodgers GM Ned Colletti because he didn't commit the two biggest sins he can commit during the offseason.

He didn't sign Jones for too long ... and he didn't have to give up any good young talent for Jones, a free agent.

(Which reminds me, the Atlanta Braves, who know Jones best, didn't even bother with trying to sign him. Hmmm.)

Worst case, Jones is Colletti's second CF bust in two seasons. He signed Pierre to a five-year, $45 million contract last fall, and Juan just isn't worth that sort of money.

Now the Dodgers are talking about moving Juan to left field, and maybe trading Andre Ethier or Matt Kemp, which is crazy, because both of those guys make far more sense as starters than does the slap-hitting, noodle-armed Pierre.

The Dodgers ought to just dump Pierre ... see if they can foist him and his ridiculous contract on somebody .. and play Ethier and Kemp in the corners. But no, that would call for them to admit Pierre was a mistake, and it's too early for that without embarrassment.

Anyway, yes, the Dodgers pretty much HAD to make some sort of offseason move, just to give the impression they're trying.

It really is far, far harder, and requires way more courage and discipline, to do nothing ... than to go out and do something "just because" ... which is what Andruw Jones looks like. A "just because" kind of move that fans will pay for, one way or another.

If Jones bounces back to be the guy who hit 51 homers in 2005, Ned is a genius.

If he is the guy who hit .222 with 26 homers in 154 games last year ... Ned has massively overspent for a center fielder in consecutive Novembers. Maybe he can try to make it three straight, next year.

Jones also has is gaining a rep as a guy who is a bit of a dog (even in his contract year, 2007), and Dodgers fans will not find that appealing,

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 6:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Just beat the deadline ... I like to wait and think these things through ... and here is my Heisman Trophy ballot.

(The top pick gets three points, the second gets two, the third gets one.)

Winner announced Saturday, and I think anyone paying attention knows who it's going to be.

1, Tim Tebow, quarterback, Florida.

2. Colt Brennan, quarterback, Hawaii.

3. Pat White, quarterback, West Virginia.

My thinking:

Tebow has been an absolute beast for the Gators. He's about 75 percent of their offense. He is the first player to throw for at least 20 touchdowns and run for at least 20 more. And he did this for a 9-3 team in probably the toughest conference in the country. His performance overcomes my resistance to voting for a sophomore.

Brennan broke just about every passing record there is to break. Why isn't he No. 1? Because he did it for Hawaii in a weak conference. Great numbers, unbeaten team, and that's why he's No. 2 here. Lousy schedule, bad conference, and that's why he isn't No. 1.

Pat White had more help, at West Virginia, but he clearly was the main cog in an offense that might have been the best in the country. For a team that probably is among the top five in the country -- when he's healthy. It is zero coincidence that both West Virginia defeats came in games in which he was injured and missed more than half the game.

Others I considered: Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, USC nose tackle Sedrick Ellis, Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel.

I think I've picked the winner for several years running now. It hasn't been that hard, of late.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Damian Holmes, the well-regarded defensive end at Colton High School, is watching UCLA's coaching situation with keen interest, according to Holmes' coach, Harold Strauss.

Holmes has committed to the Bruins, but when a school changes coaches, everything is up in the air.

Strauss said Holmes is hopeful the defensive coaches (led by D-coordinator DeWayne Walker) will survive the change at the top, which probably would make him happy to go to Westwood.

Just guessing ... but the new coach will bring in his own staff. So Holmes may have some decisions to make.

He may find it interesting to read the comments by Brian Abraham, a senior tackle at UCLA ... which are in an item farther down on this blog.

Abraham said players play for their teammates and their schools, not for coaches, because coaches can disappear overnight.

That was an astute observation from a guy who has been through the system.

So if Holmes likes UCLA and the guys he's met during recruiting ... maybe he should just go ahead and go, no matter what the coaching staff looks like next season.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 6:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The kids are all right ... at defense, anyway.

USC's freshmen and sophs played a triangle-and-two defense against a bigger, quicker Memphis team Tuesday night, and that part of their game worked out well.

Turned out Memphis' freshmen and sophs are as disorganized and shoot as badly as do the Trojans. And are awful at the line. (Like, 7-for-18 awful. Ick.)

This was one of those games, actually, in which both teams were exposed. Both looked bad. Both were seen to have nothing really resembling an organized, coherent offense or a real go-to guy. USC shot 28 percent and Memphis -- the nation's No. 2-ranked team -- shot 37 percent.

Memphis' shooting percentage was that high only because it had several dunks and lobs-for-dunks over the dinky Trojans.

It was so ugly ... you wished a team boasting a semblance of organization on offense could have come out and beat one or the other collection of McDonald's All-Americans by 20. Somebody who knows a pick and roll from a jelly roll and has heard of the backdoor play.

It ended 61-58, Memphis, but USC could have won. Daniel Hackett had two free throws with five seconds left in regulation, USC down one ... but chucked the second one off the heel of the rim.

OT, tied at 54.

USC could not get an open took in the attacking end of the court. I mean, nothing. At all. And threw away a batch more passes. Just wild heaves intercepted by defenders, same stuff the Trojans did on Sunday against Kansas. Making 21 turnovers, this time.

O.J. Mayo, putative freshman sensation, was 6-for-20 from the field, and didn't make a shot the final 14 minutes of regulation. Add that to his 6-for-21 clankfest against Kansas and he's 12-for-41 in two nationally televised games about 50 hours apart. Making him a guy who SHOULD spend another year (or three) in college, working on his game, which right now is laughably inept attempts to break down a defense a la Kobe Bryant, but without the size to shoot over defenders or the speed to get to the rim or the hand-eye coordination to knock down the 22-footer.

Memphis' own "super" freshman, kid name of Derrick Rose, looked just as raw, scoring nine points on 3-of-9 shooting, with five turnovers. Most of the time up against Mayo (who at least can play some defense).

Maybe the only satisfying aspect of this, for the Trojans, was Memphis coach John Calipari conceding USC coach Tim Floyd did a better job of wringing what he could out of his roster.

"I got thoroughly outcoached this game," Calipari told the AP. "Believe me, thoroughly outcoached."

Floyd's triangle-and-two was inspired, but where he's going to find offense against other hard-defending college teams like, oh, UCLA and even Washington State ... well, good luck with that. Better lay in a big supply of bricks, because his guys are going to be hoisting them.

But Floyd alleged enthusiasm for what he's seeing. "I don't believe there's a team in the country with greater upside than us."

Too bad his guys won't stick around long enough to find it.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 5:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dickie V has laryngitis! And it's lasted for weeks, now.

I don't know whether to offer my condolences ... or to celebrate.

Oh, forget that. It's party time!

Vitale unable to shout is as wonderful as the yapper dog next door muzzled.

It's like a bawling infant dropping off to sleep. A howling banshee gagged. The car alarm that goes off at 3 a.m. at the neighbor's house permanently disabled. It's good times, is what it is.

I first noticed this a week, maybe two weeks ago. One of college basketball's early games this season.

Dickie V's voice was a rasp. Hardly above a whisper. It was painful to listen to ... well, nothing unusual there. But in a different way. In a "shouldn't you be sucking on a lozenge and resting your vocal chords?" kinda way.

And then it struck me how much this guy has abused his voice, over the years. It has been his, uh, calling card as a broadcaster. Just shouting at the audience. "Better get a TO!" "This kid is a diaper dandy!" "Rejection City, baby!"

You know, all that old-guy quasi-hip ballin' stuff the onetime coach (yes, he really was a coach, a million years ago) has been bellowing at us for, oh, these two decades. If not three.

Who knew we could watch key basketball games (in this case, USC's not-quite-under-control kids losing to second-ranked Memphis, in overtime) without having Dickie V wake the dead with his screaming?

Well, we all knew it. Of course.

You wonder if he's just thrashed his vocal chords from all the years of abuse. Like some singers do. (Supposedly, Steve Perry of Journey has been reduced to a whisper.) Or some politicians. (Remember when Bill Clinton on the campaign trail was barely audible? Nice!) Maybe he will never be able to shout at us again?

Anyway, it IS possible to say something vaguely interesting or insightful about a game without having to yell it. Vitale is finding that out right now ... and maybe, just maybe, he'll realize the microphone is there for a reason, and give his voice -- and our ears -- a well-deserved rest. Right on through the season.

Or is that too much to hope for? Dickie V probably is seeing specialists, trying to get to the point where he can scream again. This is where we need modern medicine to just take a walk, baby.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 5:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Harold Strauss, 49, the veteran coach who bounced back from a February heart attack to lead Colton High School to the CIF-SS Central Division football semifinals, said today he plans to coach next year.

"I could do another five years now," he said today. "I'm feeling pretty good. That's a big factor in my decision.

"Next year will be my 30th anniversary of coaching (going back to a junior high team at Bloomington Chrstian), and that's a fun milestone."

He said he "had a checkup with the doctor right before the playoffs, and he said it looked fine and 'I'll see you in three months.'

"I coached this year a little bit different ... I seemed like a lot more mellow on the field, a lot more a thinker. I was as intense, but not as vocal. a lot more at peace."

As for the 13-0 upset vs. Canyon Springs in the semis, in steady rain on a sloppy field ... he said he still hasn't looked at video of a game ... and says it is gnawing at him a little bit.

"It hadn't rained in 18 months, and we didn't handle it very well right from the beginning," he said. "If we hadn't fumbled it right off the bat ... and then I think it got in our psyche."

He conceded his double- and single-wing offense probably isn't particularly suited to rain and mud.

"We have a lot of movement, a lot of misdirection and a lot of ball-handling," he said. "Maybe we should have gone to the spread stuff like they did. You second-guess yourself ...

"Neither offense really got anything going all night. It was one thing after another. ... We still think the team we beat the week before (Rancho Verde) was the better team. (Canyon Springs) fumbled only three times ... but when you fumble five times and have two interceptions and snap it over somebody's head twice, like we did ...

"The ball was like a piece of soap."

He credited Canyon Springs with clever gamesmanship, saying his players told him the footballs Canyon Springs used, on offense, were underinflated.

"Which makes sense," Strauss said. "That might be something I learned from. Not that it's cheating. It's a smart move. You can squeeze the ball a little better when there's less air in it."

He said only once in his career could he recall worse conditions: A first-round playoffs loss to Baker in the first round of the eight-man playoffs "in 1981 or '82, something like 24-6." His Bloomington Christian team entered the game top-seeded.

"We played at Colton, and it was a mess. That's the only mud I can remmeber that was thicker.

"For 18 months, no measurable precipitation, not enough to make a puddle, and then it rains cats and dogs."

Asked about the Central title game between Colony and Canyon Springs, Strauss said, "Interesting matchup. I think Colony is a little more balanced. They throw the ball and run it well. Physically, I think Canyon Springs might be a little more physical. I'll go with Colony; I think they will outsmart them."

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, the Angels won't get the big bat to drop behind Vladimir Guerrero in their lineup.

Specifically, they won't get Marlins third baseman Miguel Cabrera.

ESPN.com is reporting that Miggy and Dontrelle Willis will go to the Detroit Tigers for, essentially, every prospect in the organization.

The Marlins' asking price was just too high for the Angels to bear.

Florida wanted Howie Kendrick and Jeff Mathis and apparently two of these three pitchers -- Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders and Nick Adenhart -- for MiggyC. (Though Florida may have ASKED them to take on Dontrelle, who had an ERA over 5.00 last season, and that's not easy to do in the National Leauge.)

That's a lot. Kendrick could be a batting champ some day, and hit 45 doubles and 20 homers. Losing two of those three pitchers would leave the club just too thin in starting pitchers.

Miggy also would have come over either arbitration-eligible, and he made $10 million last year, and would want to sign him to a long-term pact, if they were going to give up so much talent ... maybe $75 million for five years?

That's a massive investment for a guy who apparently gained 70 pounds in his first five seasons.

Plus, Florida may have demanded the Angels take Dontrelle, too, who had an ERA over 5.00 last season, and that's not easy to do in the National League. Willis already is making $6.45 million, and he's arbitration eligible, so there's another $7 million out the window -- to a guy who may already be washed up.

So, with the third basemen pretty much off the market, the Angels should start thinking in terms of Chone Figgins at the position, with Maicer Izturis playing there some, too -- if he's not playing shortstop.

What this does say? The Tigers and Angels, the main players in the Miggy pursuit, apparently at least are thinking they have to gamble big if they want to compete with the Red Sox and Yankees.

The Tigers have taken the plunge more dramatically, and now appear to be on the same big-spending treadmill the Yanks and Bosox are trudging on, never keeping their own guys, always buying old ones, spending spending spending. The Angels laid out $90 million for Torii Hunter, which is serious money, but at least they didn't lose six promising kids in the process, as the Marlins did, in the trade for Miggy and Dontrelle.

Let's see how that works out. I think the Angels did the right thing keeping their guys.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 5:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It was polite of UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero to offer Karl Dorrell the chance to coach the Bruins in the Las Vegas Bowl, and Dorrell thought about it for a day.

Dorrell said today he won't coach the game, which is good, because it would just be too weird to have the team under the control of a lame-duck coach for another three weeks.

A press release from UCLA quoted Dorrell as saying:

“I appreciate the opportunity to coach in the bowl game, but I have decided it is in the best interests of the program for me to decline that opportunity. The game should be about the players, especially the seniors. While I would love to take the field with these young men one last time, I felt that my situation would take the focus away from our players and their efforts and that’s the last thing I would want to do.

“I wish the players great success against BYU and in their respective futures.”

Karl Dorrell was a class act during his five seasons, and he goes out that way.

Presumably, defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker will coach the Bruins in the Dec. 22 game vs. BYU.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 4:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UCLA reporters are saying it's official, that Karl Dorrell was fired this morning by Dan Guerrero.

Don't weep for Karl. He gets $2 million to go away, and he's certainly competent enough to be an assistant any number of places, NFL or college.

So, what does UCLA do now?

The names out there, in order of notoriety:

Former Cal, Lions and 49ers coach Steve Mariucci.

Former Washington and Colorado coach Steve Neuheisel.

Boise State coach Dan Petersen.

UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker.

If Dan Guerrero calls me to ask (hah!), I like Mooch, as Mariucci sometimes is known. He emanates class, and he's been successful in the NFL (60-43 in six seasons with the 49ers) and had a 6-6 year at Cal, a decade ago ... so he knows the Pac-10. He also was an assistant at USC, once upon a time (1986). He also would give the Bruins the sort of media presence who could at least compete with Pete Carroll in the star-power competition (as opposed to the stunningly dull Dorrell).

Thing is, I'm sure Mooch would be expensive. And he's 52, which is starting to get a bit long in the tooth to be rebuilding ... and he's been out of coaching for more than two years, since the Lions fired him after a Thanksgiving Day loss in 2005.

My next choice would be Petersen, the Boise State guy. He's young-ish (43), for a coach, he's already working in an environment where Not Everything Is Possible, so he knows the limitations that are part of the UCLA situation (starting with semi-tough admission requirements, continuing to substandard on-campus facilities) ... He also has Pac-10 experience -- six seasons as Oregon's receivers coach. And he's won, like crazy, at Boise. He didn't build the program, but he's certainly kept it up, going 23-2 in two seasons.

Petersen won't be quite as cheap as you might think; he's finishing the first year of a five-year contract apparently worth $4.25 million. But UCLA ought to be able to afford him, maybe at $1 mill a year.

I don't like Neuheisel. There's something cheesy about him (the gambling things, the ineligible player at Colorado that prompted five forfeits, various discipline issues), and not even his being a Bruin is enough to make him viable. Though he can be charming. He currently is offensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens, and if you've seen the Ravens play you know that's no feather in Neuheisel's cap. Oh, and he's litigious; he sued Washington over the NCAA basketball tourney/pool bets ... and you don't need guys around who have sued previous employers.

And Walker ... I think the Bruins just saw the perils of hiring a guy (KD) without head-coaching experience. Walker is a rising coach with a couple of solid performances by his defense against USC (not that the Trojans have been world-beaters, on offense, the past two seasons). And he might be able to save part or most of what allegedly was a solid recruiting class. He's edgy, too, which might not hurt the Bruins ... but I'd like him way better if he went off and did well as the head coach at a D1-AA school first.

I'm thinking Petersen is the guy who will end up in Westwood. Mooch is fine with me ... but may be too rich for UCLA's budget.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UCLA and BYU got matched in the Las Vegas Bowl, which is something of a train wreck right from the get-go.

These teams already have played this season (UCLA won 27-17, in September), and each has been to Vegas recently, a town that pretty much doesn't care about its own bowl game.

Anyway, when you're UCLA football you try to make the best of things, and the Bruins released a statement from Karl Dorrell ... which is interesting, in itself, because Dorrell widely is expected to be fired Monday or Tuesday.

Meaning someone else will be coaching the Bruins on Dec. 22, when the game goes off.

UCLA quotes Dorrell as saying ...

"UCLA is extremely happy to be playing in the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl. Tina Kunzer-Murphy and her committee do a fantastic job of making the bowl experience first-class for the players and we are looking forward to facing an outstanding opponent in BYU."

We're just going to guess and suggest Dorrell didn't say anything about Las Vegas, a bowl or BYU ... and perhaps the UCLA media relation department anticipated what he might have said if he weren't in a bunker with the blinds drawn and his cell phone turned off.

Then again ... if it smooths the way for the $2 million buy out to mouth two sentences of drivel, maybe even on-the-eve-of-firing Karl could come up with that.

As it turns out, the Las Vegas Bowl is a sort of unofficial postseason destination for the Bruins, in this millennium. They also went in 2002 (defeating New Mexico 27-13) and 2004 (losing to Wyoming, 24-21).

The 2002 game was the one in which towel-waver extraordinaire Ed Kezerian (you know who he is if you've been to a UCLA game) was designated UCLA coach, after Bob Toledo had been shown the door.

Kezerian might have a chance to reprise his fill-in coach role, and maybe run his bowl record to 2-0. Which would put him well ahead of Dorrell, who is 1-3 in bowl games.

BYU is 10-2, by the way, meaning UCLA's victory over the Cougars was one of the best by Dorrell's last team. The Bruins are 6-6.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 7:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Allen Bradford, USC's backup tailback out of Colton High School, was conspicuous by his absence at the UCLA game on Saturday.

Turns out, Bradford was on the USC sideline .... just not in uniform.

He was suspended for the game for accruing too many disciplinary "points" -- for missing classes or, mostly, he said, for being late to class.

"It was about being late to school, like three minutes late," he said tonight. "I stayed, like, three hours every day last week, trying to get (the points total) down, but it didn't work out. ... I was one point over the limit, so ..."

And how did not suiting up make him feel?

"It was a reality shock," he said. "Football comes and goes, football is cool, but you have to take care of school. You can't play football without school. It's just another learning lesson in my life.

"I'm going to be ready for the Rose Bowl. I talked to Coach (Pete) Carroll, and he was upset with me, as all the other coaches were, because I could have been out there making plays or doing something.

"I'll be ready for the Rose Bowl. I'm going to stay focused in my work. These last finals and stuff, stay real focused on that. In the springtime, I won't let this happen happen. i won't let this happen ever again."

He said it isn't a matter of grades. "My grades, I have an A, a B and a C ... i was going to class late."

Bradford looks bigger in his upper body, just over the past few months. He apparently is working intensely with weights, often with fellow tailback Chauncey Washington.

"I'm just trying ... I'm not saying I'm preparing for next year, but I'm trying to get into the mindset of working hard and being ready for next year," said Bradford, who will be a junior next season. "I weigh less but I put on more muscle."

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 6:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, of course, you have to talk like this. The rest of us in the real world can say, Illinois? Illinois? That's who USC plays in the Rose Bowl? Illinois, 9-3 and lost to Missouri, Michigan and Iowa?

But Pete Carroll and the Trojans certainly are smart enough not to denigrate the Illini or the Rose Bowl. Because that's who they are playing and where they are going, and it not only would be rude ... it might be unnecessarily provocative toward Illinois. Which apparently isn't a bad team. Just not very good.

"Its a thrill to be going to the Rose Bowl," Carroll said tonight in the team cafeteria near Heritage Hall, moments after the pairing became official. "It's a great reward for our season to go there. We'll have a great time doing it.

"We'll be playing Illinois which has had a fantastic season. They have nothing but highlight coach (Ron Zook), players, both sides of the ball, (quarterback) Juice Williams, (receiver) Rashard Mendenhall, rookie of the year in the conference (receiver Arrelious Benn), and the best defensive player and maybe the best linebacker in the country in (Jeremy) Leman. So they have all kinds of guys, they've had a huge year and a big upswing in their momentum. ... They've done a lot of great things so they'll come in here raring to go.

"I frankly like that it's Pac-10-Big Ten. That's cool and that's the way it came off and it's kind of what we know the Rose Bowl to be ... I can totally understand how this occurred. So we're fired up about it and we're going to have fun with it and have a great time in preparation."

His players were on-message, too.

Sedrick Ellis, senior nose tackle out of Chino, seemed sincere in his interest in ... Illinois.

"I think it's a pretty good matchup," Ellis said. ""Illinois had a pretty good season. They play a scheme we've played before, but it's difficult in its ways. So we have to be very sound in our defense. They have a great offense, so we have to play hard. It's similar to Oregon in what they try to do. They try to use their quarterback as an extra running back, things like that.

"I'll definitely be excited, January 1st. Last game in college football. It's gonna be on a huge scene at the Rose Bowl, which we're used to playing at. I think it will be great."

Said defensive end Lawrence Jackson: "It's not about who we play, it's how we compete. It's a no-brainer to be excited about the matchup."

Said tailback Allen Bradford: "We're not going to underestimate them. We're not going into the Rose Bowl saying we don't deserve to play these guys, we deserve to be in the national championship. We're going to play these guys like another game."

Ellis and Bradford were asked if they understood why four other teams with two defeats (LSU, Oklahoma, Georgia and Virginia Tech) were ranked ahead of their own two-loss team, in the final BCS poll.

Said Ellis: "I don't quite understand how that happened. It makes sense because of the whole BCS system. So sometimes you feel like you've been let down by that system but that's the system that we have to work with. A lot of those teams have lost two games just like like us but theyr'e a little bit higher in the standings, for whatever reason. We just gotta play what we're given, who we're give and try to do our best with that."

Said Bradford: "I can see how it happened. The loss to Stanford hurt us real bad. If we'd just lost to somebody else, Oregon, or whoever, but we lost to Stanford. Other teams lost to teams, but they lost to high-powered teams."

Ellis said he thinks of the Stanford defeat, a 24-23 shocker at the Coliseum, often.

"I don't think you can't not think about Stanford," he said. "At the same breath, it's in the past, there's nothing you can do about it. What we have at hand is Illinois. If we're looking back at Stanford then we won't have a good chance of beating illinois."

Asked about USC's national title hopes finally being dead, Ellis said, "You never know how things will go. We just try to play our hardest, and i think it just shows the resiliency of this team to fight back and win the rest of the games. We're in a great spot right now to do what we planned on doing from the start of the season, which is to win the Rose Bowl, and we still have a great shot of doing that and that's what were going to try to take advantage of."

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 5:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

O.J. Mayo is very much like Kobe Bryant. In one respect, anyway.

USC's prize freshman never met a shot he won't take.

Not necessarily make. But one he will take. He's one of those guys who believes he's always open, even when he's not.

Mayo hoisted the rock 21 times in the brunch-time game vs. No. 4-ranked Kansas today, making only six, and the Trojans lost 59-55 to the Jayhawks.

Afterward, it was a bit amusing to listen to USC coach Tim Floyd talk about losing to an experienced team ... because his team is never going to be a really experienced team if it keeps losing guys to the pros before (way before, in Mayo's case) their eligibility has expired.

USC led by as many as 10 in the first half, but went cold after forging a 42-42 tie with 9:43 to play.

Kansas scored the next 11, and USC never had the ball and a chance to lead, down the stretch.

Said Floyd: "I thought (the Jayhawks) showed their experience and poise when they needed to, and I thought we did not. We did not. We looked like who we are, a team that had gotten in a close one against a nationally ranked team for the first time and really played a little frustrated on the offensive end.

"Quick shot-making, a turnover or two we would like to have back, these are things we will grow from, that we'll get better at.

"But, uh, coaches look at effort, and I thought we played with tremendous madness on the defensive end. We've gotta not play with madness on the offensive end and I thought we did, in stretches. But I think that's what people talk about, but it doesn't have to be that way all year long, and we'll get better.

"I applaud Kansas on their poise. That's a veteran team. Hopefully, we can grow to that point by the time the season is over. That's our goal."

USC was out-rebounded 42-30, in part because USC's top rebounder, Taj Gibson, fouled out in only 25 minutes. Floyd also criticized his guards for not working back to the backboard to help in the rebounding effort.

Next up is a team that probably is even better than Kansas, Memphis, at Madison Square Garden in New York,

Said Floyd: "I think the challenge is watching the film, and each guy looking at himself and saying, I'd like to have that play back and that play back and that play back. I'm a better player than this play, this play, this play. And clean up some execution and understand that your'e playing another terrific basketball team on a neutral floor."

Floyd, on heightened expectations, for USC basketball>

"This is what we're trying to do with this program. We don't want to go play a schedule to build wins. My hope is that the NCAA selection committee will remember who we're playing, and the challenge of playing good teams, and we're playing good teams.

"I think it's important for our program to do this right now, to put people in the seats and have them come watch a quality product and want to come back. I thought our atmosphere was tremendous today. Absolutely tremendous."

Attendance was 10,017, which is close to capacity at the Galen Center. Several hundred were Kansas fans, but at least 10,000 saw USC play a basketball home game, and that never happened before Galen Center was built.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 3:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Talk about a game that leaves us limp.

USC vs. Illinois in the Rose Bowl?

Yawn.

No, beyond yawn.

Zzzzz.

This is a nothing game for the Trojans, who as late as Saturday afternoon thought there might be a back way into a national title. If not the BCS title game, maybe as the No. 1 team in the Associated Press poll -- which is unaffiliated with the BCS.

But now even that is dead. The Trojans are No. 6 in AP, and it's basically impossible to envision a way they get to No. 1 at the end of the bowl season, on Jan. 7.

Whoever wins the Ohio State-LSU game -- Nos. 1 and 2 in both the AP and USA Today (coaches) poll -- will be the automatic BCS title-winner, of course, and clearly the No. 1 team in the AP, too. Sorry, Trojans.

It gets worse.

USC has, basically, nothing to play for in the bowl season for the first time in the Pete Carroll Era.

The Trojans get Illinois, a team they will be expected to defeat. All they can do is live up to expectations. Anything else ... a letdown. Maybe even proof the Trojans never were that good.

Illinois is 9-3 and lost to Michigan. (And Iowa and Missouri.) The Illini's claim to fame is a victory over Ohio State, and maybe if USC handles the team that handled Ohio State, and Ohio State beats LSU? ...

Nope. Voters aren't nearly that subtle. Look at last week's BCS rankings, in which two-defeat Virginia Tech was ranked ahead of two-defeat LSU -- even though LSU destroyed Virginia Tech in a head-to-head matchup, 48-7.

In 2001, Carroll's first-year team played Utah and could have used a victory in the Las Vegas Bowl to help establish its identity. In 2002, USC had two defeats but was crushing people down the stretch, and some suggested the Trojans ought to be national champs. They were ranked No. 5, got to the Orange Bowl against third-ranked Iowa, and routed the Hawkeyes, 38-17, and finished No. 4.

The next three years, USC played for a national title -- the AP version, after the 2003 season, the BCS version after both the 2004 and 2005 seasons.

Even last season, when USC blew an open shot at another BCS bowl bid by losing to UCLA ... USC was ranked No. 8 to Michigan's No. 3 in the Rose Bowl, and had something to play for, against the once-beaten Wolverines. Proving the UCLA game was a fluke, and they coulda been contenders ...

This time ... nada. Illinois. Blah. Whatever. They win, maybe they move up one slot in the polls.

Hard to imagine anyone here at USC is happy. About to find out, at 5, when the coaches and players watch the BCS bowl show, and journalists get to watch them fake being happy.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been a wacky season for three months, so why should it bee any different the final day?

No.2-ranked West Virginia has just lost to 30-point underdog Pitt, 13-9.

No. 1-ranked Missouri is losing 28-14 to Oklahoma.

Barring a Mizzou rally, the national title game now is Ohio State and, probably, LSU, despite its two defeats.

How bizarre has it all been?

USC now might get Georgia in the Rose Bowl ... or otherwise Illinois. And can keep clutching at the idea that it could finish the season as No. 1 in the AP poll, anyway. If, say, two-defeat LSU defeats Ohio State in the BCS title game, and USC wins the Rose Bowl over No.3-ranked Georgia ...

Anyway, IF there could be an upset this year, there WAS.

Great year, though. Great entertainment. There are good reasons why we love college football.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 8:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm sorry it took me so long to get around to talking to Brian Abraham, the UCLA offensive tackle out of Rancho Cucamonga High School.

He started as a sophomore, lost his job as a junior, regained it this season, and I never got around to seeking him out. Maybe because I saw a lot more of USC than UCLA, maybe because the Bruins played so many night games ...

But I "discovered" him the last month of this season, and he's a very thoughtful kid, with interesting things to say. He became a "go-to" guy for me, and I will miss him for his honesty and patience.

Abraham suffered an ankle sprain in the second quarter of UCLA's 27-7 defeat to USC at the Coliseum on Saturday, and never got back into the game, though he never took off his No. 68 jersey until after the game.

"I was trying to get back," he said. "But it didn't work out so well. I wasn't really going anywhere."

Abraham's college career is over, unless UCLA goes to a bowl game.

"It's unreal how fast it goes by," he said. "You know, I'll never forget the experience and the freinds that i made. Its been a quick four years but a good four years. A lot of memories I'll never forget."

Any particular memories?

"It's gotta be the friends I made," he said, his eyes welling. "All these guys are good guys. I'd do anything for all these guys. I can never repay some of these guys ... who put the effort, these underclassmen, who tried to put these seniors out on top. I'll never forget these guys, ever. That's probably my best memory."

Did he think UCLA was back in the game when the Bruins closed to 17-7 just before the half?

"I was in here getting iced, but they said it and i was pumped," he said. "I didn't know if I'd get back in, but i was pumped to see the guys come back (to the locker room for halftime). It was just, we did some things that didn't work out in our favor. It's hard to win a football game sometimes when you have the turnovers and that kind of stuff."

The speculation about his coach, Karl Dorrell, losing his job. Any thoughts?

"It's not something that's in my control," he said. I stand by UCLA in everything that has to do with it. I'm not going to say anything about that."

Do players feel guilt when a coach loses his job?

"As a player, my opinion, my experience here, no head coaches, but I've gone through a lot of O-line coaches, you gotta know when you're playing college ball it's part of the territory. You don't go to a school for the coaches, you go to a school for the team and the players and that kind of stuff because, I mean, realistically, that's life as a college coach. You don't know where you're going to be next year."

And his UCLA career? Did it go as he thought it would?

"It's not what i wanted, but that's life," he said. "We didn't end at the top. We fought to the end, but some things didn't go our way all season long. You can't take the heart or the effort from any of these guys. They played their ass off all season."

Abraham said he hopes UCLA plays a bowl game. After that, maybe he gets a shot at the NFL. If not, perhaps he will put that UCLA education -- he is a history major -- to good use.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 7:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dreary game ... but significant results.

USC goes to the Rose Bowl and wins at least a share of its sixth consecutive Pac-10 title.

Karl Dorrell almost certainly is a goner, as UCLA coach. He might have been, anyway, but his team's sloppy performance should have sealed his fate. The question now seems to be: Does he get fired Sunday ... or do the Bruins wait till Monday?

I'm guessing Monday, for one reason: UCLA has a home basketball game tomorrow, and Dorrell's dismissal would detract from the game. And UCLA is all about hoops, of course.

It wasn't close, statistically.

USC 26 first downs, UCLA 10.

USC 437 yards, UCLA 168.

USC two turnoves, UCLA four.

Etc. Actually, it won't go down as a special anything in this rivalry. These teams have collaborated on too many great games to let this drab affair make any impression on our memory banks.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 4:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Trojans have been sloppy and error-prone, but they're playing a UCLA team with zero offense. Actually, worse than zero offense because the Bruins have turned it over so many times. If they could just go three and out and get a punt ...

The Trojans went into cruise control when they got to 17-0, gave up a long drive just before half, summoned enough interest to punch it in early in the fourth quarter ... and now we're just waiting for it to be over.

Rather a serious letdown.

UCLA has the ball at its own 20 with 7:13 left, and the chances of the Bruins scoring three times in seven minutes? One in a thousand? One in a million. They would need a special teams TD in there, for sure, and probably a defensive TD as well.

This one is over. Trojans ho-hum past a fairly wretched team coached by a guy about to get fired.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 4:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UCLA isn't very good. We knew that already.

But USC isn't very good today, either, and the "beatdown" USC fans have been talking about for a year ... isn't happening, so far.

USC 17, UCLA 7, at half ... after the Trojans failed to convert a batch of early chances to score.

It's not a crisp game. Not at all. Dropped balls and bad calls, sloppy execution.

USC kinda has to hope nobody is watching. It's hard to imagine the Trojans losing, but they aren't racking up many style points.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 2:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UCLA is trying to participate in a blowout, but USC won't cooperate.

The Bruins have lost two fumbles, been unable to generate any offense ... and USC has been inside the UCLA 30 all day ... but until Chauncey Washington's 10-yard TD run just now, it was a one-score game.

Now it's USC 14, UCLA 0.

UCLA looks awful, aside from moments on defense ... and USC doesn't look much better. Not run-blocking well. John David Booty made a horrible throw that went for an interception.

USC isn't impressing anyone who might be watching.

USC 193 yards, so far ... UCLA 17 yards on 13 plays. Ack.

Pat Cowan got the start for UCLA, at quarterback, and looks rusty ... and has to be ... but what are the options?

Ben Olson apparently hasn't bounced back from the half he played last week ... his knee, and all. And the UCLA staff clearly doesn't want Osaar Rasshan anywhere near the field.

Anyway, USC may already have enough points to win. 14.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

USC faces a fourth-and-1 at the UCLA 24 and decides to go for it -- even though the wind is at the Trojans' backs and David Buehler has a strong leg.

The Trojans went with a slow-developing play over the left side, with Chauncey Washington carrying .... and there waiting for him a few feet behind the line of scrimmage was Jess Ward, Bruins defensive tackle out of Rim of the World High School.

Ward is a redshirt sophomore who has gotten lots of action this season because of injuries to Bruins D-tackles. Otherwise, he probably would have been a seldom-used replacement.

Anyway, big moment for the guy from Lake Arrowhead. Kept the underdog Bruins from falling behind early here, which is what they don't want.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The buzz around this game is bigger than anything else in the market, year after year.

I could hear the roar of the crowd from far outside the stadium, walking in just now.

People get that agitated.

Both teams have lots on the line, of course. USC wins, it's in the Rose Bowl. And keeps alive its faint very faint dreams of a share of the national title. UCLA wins, it has a shot at the Rose Bowl, and maybe coach karl Dorrell keeps his job.

And then there is the whole bragginng rights thing ... which UCLA really took advantage of the past year, after its 13-9 victory last year.

Anyway, people are fired up about this. It's big. It's a great pageant and game and rivalry.

Oh, and the concept of this being USC's last game at the Coliseum. Possibly. Well, in theory. That's out there, too.

Makes you think about the yard a bit more. And how yeah, it's decrepit ... but it's also very alive when these two teams are playing each other. A throbbing mass of cardinal and gold and blue and gold humanity.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 1:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)