In This Corner

Jim Sturgeon is out as football coach at Ganesha High School in Pomona, according to first-year athletic director Jesse Altamirano.

Altamirano said Sturgeon, 66, turned in his resignation on Dec. 9, a few weeks after his third consecutive 0-10 season with the Giants.

Ganesha hasn't won on the field since the opening game of the 2003 season -- 48 games ago.

Ganesha last season broke the state record for longest football losing streak. The record previously was held by Moorpark, which lost 46 straight three decades ago..

I spent several hours talkling to Sturgeon and some of his players after the last practice of the 2007 season, and Sturgeon seemed a bit beaten down. And this is a guy whose nickname was/is "Blue Skies" -- because of his relentless optimism.

Sturgeon said he didn't know about Ganesha setting the state record for consecutive defeats, and the knowledge certainly didn't buoy his spirits.

"I'm a big part of that," he said almost to himself. "Maybe I should be gone."

Altamirano said Ganesha is looking for candidates both inside and outside the Pomona School District. He indicated he has been contacted by "several" interested coaches.

He said the closing date for applicants is Feb. 15.

Ganesha's problems are deep and wide, as I wrote in this column from last November. In short, it's a school with zero feeder system (middle school or junior football), modest, enrollment, a high dropout rate and limited administrative interest, in recent years, in producing a competitive football program.

Sturgeon is a good man, and he tried hard ... but the problems were too daunting.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 3:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Someone asked me the other day "how many Super Bowls have you been to?" ... and I honestly didn't know.

I took a guess.

I said, "Maybe 12, 15?"

So just now I looked it up ... and I'm pretty sure it's 12. Or will be, if I get to Glendale, Ariz., as planned ... and get into the stadium, etc. (I am constantly reminded, these days, of something Vin Scully told me: "If you want to make God smile, tell Him your plans.")

The list, chronologically:

1. SB XIV, Pasadena, 1980: Steelers 31, Rams 19; my favorite Super Bowl; great game; lead changed six times

2. SB XVII, Pasadena, 1983: Redskins 27, Dolphins 17; John Riggins and the fourth-down TD run

3. SB XXI, Pasadena, 1987: Giants 39, Broncos 20; I should have been there, but I have no memory of it. Probably should check to make sure I WAS there.

4. SB XXII, San Diego, 1988: Redskins 42, Broncos 10; Denver scored the first 10, Redskins the next 42

5. SB XXVII, Pasadena, 1993: Cowboys 52, Bills 17; Defeat No. 3 of the Bills' four consecutive; ugly game, aside from the Don Beebe/Leon Lett incident

6. SB XXIX, Miami, 1995: 49ers 49, Chargers 26; I was the second-to-last guy out of the press box; that's what I remember ... other than the Seifert-Young Niners rolling.

7. SB XXX, Tempe, 1996: Cowboys 27, Steelers 17; Neil O'Donnell kept throwing interceptions

8. SB XXXI, New Orleans, 1997: Packers 35, Patriots 21; game was ordinary, but Bourbon Street and the SB Party were outstanding

9. SB XXXII, San Diego, 1998: Broncos 31, Packers 24; biggest surprise; I was sure Packers would win

10. SB XXXVII, San Diego, 2003: Buccaneers 48, Raiders 21; the last bleat from the Commitment to Excellence crew

11. SB XXIX, Jacksonville, 2005: Patriots 24, Eagles 21; I drove to this game with my daughter and did a daily diary; the trip was far FAR more memorable than the game

12. SB XLII, Glendale, Ariz., 2008: I suppose this one will be The Patriots Did It ... or not.

The thing about the Super Bowl: Fans/journalists may want to see it in person ... once. I can understand that.

But after going once ... you're better off watching it on television with friends, or at a party. Trust me. It's just such an overblown, out-of-hand zoo, in person. Better to turn it on TV, walk away if you want, ignore the commercials, or embrace them.

The food and drink probably are better, and so is the company, and the halftime/pre-game stuff will be easier to see than from the stands ... and it will cost you $1,000-plus less.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Man, tough spot.

You consider yourself the Face of the Franchise for most of a decade, and actually you are.

You retire semi-young, get a commentator job with a network and waste no time criticizing your former teammates, who are expected to struggle without you ...

And then they go to the Super Bowl. And it looks a lot like the New York Giants profited by what sports people call "addition by subtraction."

Tiki apparently is persona non grata in Glendale, Ariz., this week ... at least around the Giants.

Here is an Associated Press story about the Barber situation. With the Giants lining up to criticize him ... and Tiki unavailable for comment.

This is a more sympathetic take, by Peter King of Sports Illustrated, who works with Barber.

Anyway, gotta be tough on your ego. You think you're The Man ... then your team heads directly to the Super Bowl the minute you leave.

Cause and effect? Gotta cross your mind.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Just play the game.

This two-week run-up to the game is ridiculous.

And I know, having been inside the sausage factory a dozen-plus times.

This week before kickoff can seem unending. Especially if you have the misfortune to be in the same city as the game ... or the even worse fortune of covering it as a journalist. Which I have done ... a lot.

Way back when, the days before the game could possibly be vaguely interesting. Before it became a fully scripted and rehearsed event. As it has been for, oh, at least 20 years.

There is precious little real journalism going on this week. It's about 50-some guys on two teams who are going to say nothing for several days, then go into seclusion, while, what, 10,000 "journalists" try to find something interesting to relate to readers.

About half the stories will be about "how awful Super Bowl hype is." And those are THE worst stories, because that's been written almost from Year 1 of this game.

I firmly believe the Super Bowl should be played the Sunday immediately after the conference title games. Keep at least a vague sense of freshness to it. Over 14 days of waiting, it goes dead.

Anyway, I have llitle interest in what anyone says this week because they won't actually SAY anything ... and what little they say will be the cliches coaches have ordered them to mouth.

It's stultifying. Can we go to kickoff and skip all this? No? Well, at least, let's have the two winning teams fly directly from the conference title games to the Super Bowl city, and have this over and done one week later.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 12:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've mentioned before that the idea fans have of how marvelous it must be ... inside a professional team's clubhouse/locker room ... is wrong-headed.

And the other day I was reminded why hockey fans really do NOT want to be inside an NHL locker room.

It starts with the smell.

It's awful.

Hockey locker rooms are easily the worst-smelling in sports. And they stink even when the players aren't there.

I'm told that the culprit is hockey equipment, which gets wet and then never quite dries ... and smells worse than some athletic socks left at the bottom of a laundry hamper for a year or two.

The essence de P-U of the hockey locker room is particularly flavored by players' gloves, which are made out of leather.

Apparently, nothing stinks quite like sweaty leather.

A player once told me that if you watch a hockey fight, players make a point -- before dropping their gloves -- of sticking them in the face of the other guy. Because they smell so badly.

I was reminded of that special hockey stench on Monday when I was in the Ducks locker room shortly after Teemu Selanne announced he would be coming back.

No players were in the room. Four big floor fans were blasting warm air through the room ... and it still smelled awful. The kind of smell you fear might get in your clothes or your hair and never come out.

So, no, you don't want to be in a hockey locker room. Wait for the lads to shower and come out -- having left behind their reeking equipment.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 11:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel has seen the light, and he's all about doing things right. That's the corporate line out of Westwood.

UCLA and its new football coach must be hoping nobody down here sees the series the Seattle Times newspaper is running on Neuheisel's "great" Washington team, the 2000 team that won the Rose Bowl and finished ranked No. 3 in the country.

Seems as if those Huskies weren't choir boys. Well, football teams rarely are. But this one seems a bit sketchier than usual.

Sort of like Neuheisel himself.

It looks as if this is going to be a four-part series.

The overview of the series can be seen here. It appears to offer a link to the first expanded story of the series, on Washington tight end Jerramy Stevens. And there is a link to another story, on a Washington safety who was arrested EVERY year he was at the school yet continued to play.

We're guessing Neuheisel isn't going to look good in any of this.

He certainly doesn't in the overview and the Stevens story.

But this is the New Improved Rick. No longer Slick Rick. The upright, law-abiding one.

We'll see how that works out for UCLA.

We also will see his the Seattle Times series unfolds.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 4:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I wrote about the Struggling Kings (their official name now, I believe) a few weeks ago, and a reader sent me a note about how tough it is to be a fan of that hockey club.

Like, no kidding. Still the worst team in the league ... and it's made worse that the defending champions live and work just down the 5 freeway in Anaheim.

Anyway, this guy ... he calls himself "Bobo" ... came up with some suggestions for making Kings games more bearable.

Had to tweak his list a little. He had one interesting, perhaps popular suggestion we can't include in a "family" blog.

His stuff is below.

Well...I've used this All-Star Game break and to talk to my favorite team's management and found out there are going to be some changes following the break and five-game road trip....I'll just name a few...

Following the break, Kings will change their uniform colors...The new colors (or color) will be all black...The management is also encouraging all fans to wear black so everybody feel like they are attending a funeral at each game (personally, I've been wearing all black-hat, shorts and shirt since beginning of October and I'm getting a lot of sorry looks and condolences everywhere I go!!)...

Fans not wearing all-black will not (I repeat, WILL NOT!!!) be allowed to enter the premises....

Next change is that during the game, there will be about 20-40 entertainers (some of them will be adult entertainers) walking between fans and telling jokes, making fun of other teams' players, coaches, refs, politics.......After the game, fans will be leaving thinking that our team sucks and lost again, but at least they had some fun at the game.

Next new thing is that all fans will get a free parking, because even the hard-nosed-counting-every-penny people in management realize that you should not pay to park to see your team lose every game...

And the best for last:All season ticket holders will get all the food and drinks for free plus after every lost game (and there will be plenty of them) ... Also, there will be open bars around Staples Center during and after the game for all fans in the audience, including people who already came to the game drunk (exception is the age under 21, but they are working on that part, too).

So, after all, looks like we're going to have a lot of fun for the rest of the season...Now I just wish our season's lasted longer, but we'll see.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 11:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

People talk about a team game, yeah. But the teammates here pretty much cancelled out each other.

Ultimately, LeBron James was better than Kobe Bryant.

James got easier shots, because he's so much stronger and more physical, and made more shots late, and the Cavs overcame an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Lakers 98-95.

LeBron scored 41 on 16-of-32 shooting with nine rebounds and four assists.

Kobe scored 33 of 10-of-21 with 12 rebounds and six assists.

The key was the fourth quarter.

LeBron scored 14 in the fourth quarter on 5-for-7 shooting, including two made free throws with :09 to play.

Kobe scored nine on 1-of-7 shooting in the final 12 minutes. He was 7-for-10 from the line.

Kobe and LeBron went man-to-man for much of the quarter, and James clearly had the advantage. He could always get to the basket, and at the other end he pushed and bumped the lighter Bryant away from the basket and made him settle for bad shots.

That's three consecutive defeats for the Lakers, by the way.

In this one, Kobe's ego got the best of him. So did LeBron.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

That leak Staples sprung in the first quarter ... it's over now. Some water on the ground, but at least it's still not entering the building, which is nice.

Maybe they took a collection of chewing gum.

Or maybe there were guys up there spreading a tarp.

Anyway, it's not an issue, for now. Maybe want to check into re-roofing, though.

Water on the Grammy's might be a real issue.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 3:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Doesn't look good for the Lakers. They have only 40 points at half (only 14 points in a futile second quarter) against the Cavs fairly relentless defense, and where they are going to get points is a fair question.

The Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James matchup (well, they rarely guard each other, so it isn't quite a matchup) is fairly even, after 24 minutes.

Kobe: 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting, seven rebounds, five assists.

LeBron: 21 points on 9-of-17, six rebounds, one assist.

Kobe has been to the line only once (missing one of two), which gives you an indication of how well the Cavaliers are doing at keeping him away from the rim.

This is a game where the Lakers really miss Andrew Bynum's inside presence.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 2:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is the counter-culutre baseball hall of fame.

It's an organization run by historian Terry Cannon of Pasadena, who is more interested in the weird and the unusual and the trend-setting than he is in outright stars.

It's fun and can be enlightening ... though his interest in all things PC and "progressive" can be a bit tiring.

This is not for Every Guy with 3,000 Hits or Wins 300 Games. I mean, when Moe Berg is in your "hall" and Babe Ruth is not ... you know it's a different sort of organization. And, you bet, there is a place for people who made impacts in the game in ways we don't normally associate with "stars."

Anyway, the 50 candidates are out, and the public can vote on them, if it cares to join Cannon's organization.

Here is the press release from today:

Baseball Reliquary Announces Candidates for
2008 Election of the Shrine of the Eternals

The Baseball Reliquary, Inc. has announced its list of fifty eligible candidates for the 2008 election to the Shrine of the Eternals, the membership organization’s equivalent to the Baseball Hall of Fame. This year marks the tenth annual election of the Shrine, which has become a major national component of the Baseball Reliquary, a Southern California-based organization dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history. The twenty-seven individuals previously elected to the Shrine of the Eternals are, in alphabetical order: Jim Abbott, Dick Allen, Moe Berg, Yogi Berra, Ila Borders, Jim Bouton, Jim Brosnan, Roberto Clemente, Rod Dedeaux, Dock Ellis, Mark Fidrych, Curt Flood, Josh Gibson, William “Dummy” Hoy, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Bill James, Bill “Spaceman” Lee, Marvin Miller, Minnie Minoso, Satchel Paige, Jimmy Piersall, Pam Postema, Jackie Robinson, Lester Rodney, Fernando Valenzuela, Bill Veeck, Jr., and Kenichi Zenimura.
The Shrine of the Eternals is similar in concept to the annual elections held at the Baseball Hall of Fame, but differs philosophically in that statistical accomplishment is not a criterion for election. Rather, the Shrine’s annual ballot is comprised of individuals – from the obscure to the well known – who have altered the baseball world in ways that supersede statistics.
On a procedural level, the Shrine of the Eternals differs significantly from the Baseball Hall of Fame in the manner by which electees are chosen. While the Baseball Hall of Fame’s electees are chosen in voting conducted by a closed group of sportswriters or committees, the Baseball Reliquary chooses its enshrined by a vote open to public membership. A screening committee appointed by the Reliquary’s Board of Directors prepares a ballot consisting of fifty candidates, on which the membership votes annually. The three candidates receiving the highest percentage of votes gain automatic election.
Among the fifty eligible candidates for 2008, eleven individuals appear on the Shrine of the Eternals ballot for the first time. The newcomers, in alphabetical order, are:

CHARLIE BROWN – stocky, round-headed kid pitcher mentored by the late Charles Schulz, known as much for his perennial optimism as for his complete lack of talent; has yielded more hard line drives up the middle than any other pitcher in baseball history.
JIM EISENREICH – a courageous outfielder whose big league career was temporarily derailed by the neurological disorder known as Tourette Syndrome, Eisenreich returned to the majors after undergoing several years of testing and treatment, appearing in World Series with the ’93 Phillies and ’97 Marlins; he continues to make an impact today with his foundation which helps children with Tourette Syndrome achieve personal success.
SUSAN FORNOFF – the Oakland A’s beat reporter for the Sacramento Bee from 1985-1991, Fornoff fought for equality for women in both the locker room and the newsroom while being subjected to much harassment and abuse, including a live rat sent to her as a prank by A’s numskull Dave Kingman; Fornoff co-founded the Association for Women in Sports Media (AWSM) to combat discrimination and promote equal opportunities for women sports journalists.
CHARLES “POP” KELCHNER – a legendary baseball scout for fifty years (1909-1958), Kelchner discovered or recommended over fifty major league players; as a Professor of Foreign Languages at Pennsylvania’s Albright College, he was fluent in German, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, and Latin, giving Moe Berg a run for his money as the most erudite member of the baseball profession.
MIKE “KING” KELLY – the most flamboyant ballplayer of the 19th century, and baseball’s first inarguable supernova, the hard-living, quick-witted King Kelly was the cynosure of the sporting demimonde and a pop culture phenom who, made legend by his early death, set standards that even the flashiest superstar of subsequent decades could not emulate.
ANDREW LAMPERT – creator and commissioner of the Cosmic Baseball Association, a brilliant confection of baseball, art, and science whipped to a forth with great wit and intelligence; Lampert’s CBA has been a cyberspace sweet spot since the early days of the World Wide Web and an important, if unacknowledged, stimulant for the Baseball Reliquary’s higher cognitive functions for over a decade.
DAVID MELLOR – A professional baseball groundskeeper for over twenty years, currently at Boston’s Fenway Park, Mellor specializes in creating elaborate patterns and designs in grass that are, by his own admission, limited only by one’s imagination; the acknowledged guru of the turf-obsessed, Mellor has authored a book on mowing techniques for sports landscapes, and photos of his baseball field patterns are exhibited in art galleries and museums.
MANNY MOTA – a member of several great offensive NL teams of the 1960s, the effervescent Mota was a man without a position until he settled into the role of clutch, record-breaking pinch-hitter with the Dodgers in the 1970s; etched forever into the collective memory of Los Angeles fans, Manny continues to be a highly visible presence in the Big Blue world.
BUCK O’NEIL – infectiously exuberant former Negro League star, major league scout, and baseball ambassador, the late O’Neil gained notoriety as the first black coach in big league ball and captivated a huge audience late in life as the star commentator in Ken Burns’ PBS documentary, Baseball.
GEORGE SOSNAK – Once an amateur and minor league umpire, Sosnak is renowned for his hand-painted baseballs, which commemorate historic milestones and player achievements through detailed India ink drawings and written descriptions covering every inch of the ball’s surface; while many of the 800 baseballs he painted between 1956 and his death in 1992 were presented as gifts to his subjects, they are now expensive and highly sought after works of baseball folk art.
WALLY YONAMINE – Often called the “Nisei Jackie Robinson,” the Hawaiian-born Yonamine was the first American to play professional baseball in Japan after World War II, valiantly overcoming the prejudice he faced as a foreigner and for his aggressive style of play; his perseverance (he played eleven years in Japan and coached and managed for another twenty-six years) helped open the doors for future American players in that country.

A complete list of all fifty candidates for the 2008 election of the Shrine of the Eternals follows. Election packets, containing ballots and biographical profiles of all candidates, will be mailed to Baseball Reliquary members on April 1, 2008. To be eligible to vote, all persons must have their minimum $25.00 annual membership dues paid as of March 31, 2008.
The three new inductees will be announced in May, with the Induction Day ceremony scheduled for Sunday, July 20, 2008 in Pasadena, California. In addition to the presentation of plaques to the 2008 inductees, this year’s ceremony will honor the recipients of the 2008 Hilda Award (named in memory of Hilda Chester and acknowledging a baseball fan’s exceptional devotion to the game) and the 2008 Tony Salin Memorial Award (presented annually to an individual dedicated to the preservation of baseball history).
For additional information on the Shrine of the Eternals, contact Terry Cannon, Executive Director of the Baseball Reliquary, at P.O. Box 1850, Monrovia, CA 91017; by phone at (626) 791-7647; or by e-mail at terymar@earthlink.net.

THE SHRINE OF THE ETERNALS
CANDIDATES FOR THE 2008 ELECTION
The number to the right of candidates’ names indicates
the number of years on the Shrine of the Eternals ballot.
1. Hank Aguirre (4) 26. Dr. Frank Jobe (6)
2. Lee Allen (5) 27. Charles “Pop” Kelchner (New )
3. Emmett Ashford (2) 28. Mike “King” Kelly (New!)
4. Eliot Asinof (4) 29. Andrew Lampert (New!)
5. Billy Bean (5) 30. Effa Manley (10)
6. Chet Brewer (9) 31. Roger Maris (4)
7. Rocky Bridges (3) 32. Dr. Mike Marshall (3)
8. Charlie Brown (New!) 33. Tug McGraw (5)
9. Bill Buckner (8) 34. “Nuf Ced” McGreevey (2)
10. Helen Callaghan (5) 35. David Mellor (New!)
11. Charles M. Conlon (7) 36. Fred Merkle (2)
12. Steve Dalkowski (10) 37. Manny Mota (New!)
13. Darren Daulton (2) 38. Buck O’Neil (New!)
14. Dizzy Dean (8) 39. Phil Pote (6)
15. Ed Delahanty (5) 40. Dan Quisenberry (2)
16. Jim Eisenreich (New!) 41. J.R. Richard (9)
17. Eddie Feigner (8) 42. George Sosnak (New!)
18. Lisa Fernandez (8) 43. Rusty Staub (3)
19. Susan Fornoff (New!) 44. Casey Stengel (10)
20. Rube Foster (10) 45. Luis Tiant (6)
21. Ted Giannoulas (6) 46. Fay Vincent (7)
22. Jim “Mudcat” Grant (4) 47. Rube Waddell (10)
23. Pete Gray (10) 48. Sol White (5)
24. Ernie Harwell (5) 49. Wally Yonamine (New!)
25. Willie Horton (2) 50. Don Zimmer (4)

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Staples Center opened in 1999, so it shouldn't falling apart already.

But it apparently isn't water proof. Maybe it never was. It certainly isn't now.

We're about five minutes into a stoppage in play in the Lakers-Cavaliers game because a significant amount of water is coming through the roof ... and landing just to the south of the west basket -- the one at the Lakers' bench end of the floor.

It is not an inconsiderable amount of water, either; ABC had a shot recently in which drops of water could be coming down fairly briskly, and a couple of drops were on the camera lens itself.

The water is puddling up just a few inches outside the baseline. That is, not quite on the playing surface, but certainly in an area that players run across when they're moving without the ball.

This is embarrassing. Now, a game on national TV is being held up because we can't put on a proper roof.

Michele Tafoya just did a standup from near the puddle.

"I am told the roofing company is here," she said. "I'm told it's been an issue in the past ... and they've put a tarp on the roof. .. In the meantime it looks like they're going to wipe it down and get the tarp up and try to get back to playing."

Well, they haven't yet. And we're 10 minutes in.

The ABC people have "thrown" the telecast back to the ESPN studios, and Bill Walton just had a long anecdote about Spencer Haywood, and the dangers of a wet floor. According to Big Bill, the roof in Seattle was leaking, but they kept playing ... and Haywood slipped, tore up his knee "and was never the same player again," according to Walton.

Anyway, that 3 p.m. target for ending the game... pushing it back toward 3:30.

Might be a riot if they cancel the game.

Lawrence Tanter is on the PA. "Thanks for your patience. The players are warming up, and the game will resume shortly."

Tafoya back on, with the ingenious plan: The ball boys will wipe up the wet spot relentlessly whenever the game is at the other end of the court.

Yikes. Maybe they should fix the roof, especially if it has been "an issue in the past."

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Know how I can tell? Because the people sitting in the $2,000 courtside seats ... are ALREADY IN THEM. At tipoff.

The thing for the people who buy at courtside ... they don't generally show up on time. To make a grand entrance, I guess. Or maybe because their deal-making ran late or they're not over their hangovers yet ...

But they're here.

Kobe vs. LeBron is as big as it gets, these days, in the NBA. The two most prominent individuals in the league for sure. Not necessarily the two best teams -- the Celtics, Pistons, Spurs, Suns, Mavericks probably all rate ahead of them.

But in terms of star-power, which is something this town understands ... Kobe and LeBron get everybody worked up. And they only face off in Staples once per season.

Anyway, a big enough deal that it gets the high-rollers to watch the WHOLE game.

Hopefully, later on, we'll have a list of the celebs in the seats. I mean, I can't see any right off the bat (and I don't recognize all of them, either).

Oh, wait: I DO see Jack Nicholson in his regular seat next to the opposition bench.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jeff Oliver and Michael Earl are guys with two first names. Just sayin' ...

In the rush for the newspaper deadline after Saturday night's game, we had a chance to talk with Cal State San Bernardino's coach (Oliver) and prominent big man (Earl) outside the Coyotes locker room at Coussoulis Arena.

What they were saying:

Is Humboldt turning into Cal State's biggest rival?

Oliver: "Right now. Right now it is. Pomona is right there, always right there also. For a team in the north (Humboldt) is right up there. The atmosphere they have in their gym always generates rivalry, and when you have two good basketball programs going at each other on a year in and year out basis, I think a rivalry will develop."

Did he feel as if it were something like a "must" win, considering Cal State must still play in Humboldt's gym?

"Up there, putting yourself in a must-win situation at their place, you're really handcuffing yourself because it's such a tough place to play. But how this league's been so far, I mean, there's just too much basketball yet to play. But it's nice to give ourselves a little bit of a cushion."

Seems like keeping Michael Earl on the floor was a key to your game.

Oliver: "Especially in the first half, he was real active in the first half. I think foul trouble in the second half made him a little timid. He wasn't his normal self in terms of disrupting shots and things of that nature."

He seemed to make an impact at the offensive end, anyway, in the second half.

Oliver: "It allowed us to be able to be able penetrate in there, and then when they did help off of him, we did a nice job of delivering to him, also."

Five guys in double figures in points?

Oliver: "That's kind of how we envisioned this team. We just need that every night. It's the nights when we have one and two guys in double figures that we get in trouble."

Your assist to turnover ratio was 22-7.

Oliver: "Yeah, I'll take that. That's been a big (problem) for us this year, we turn the ball over. We did a nice job of taking care of it tonight."

How many technicals for you this season, after that one in the first half?

Oliver: "Two? Yeah, two. That was a good one. I was dead-on right. (The Humboldt player) was halfway to Fontana and then we get a foul call. I didn't know you could get halfway to Fontana without dribbling the ball."

When you say "a good one" ... because you got your money's worth in venting?

"I got my money's worth because I think I got my point across. There were some travel calls made in the second half that weren't being made in the first. ... I think it's difficult for officials to officiate us because they get so caught up in the contact, and what's happening with the traveling, it's hard for them to watch contact and feet. So, I mean, I think it makes it real difficult for officials at times because of what we do."

Is this your best game? In conference?

Oliver: "Yes, because of the opponent we were playing, the quality of the opponent we were playing and the dynamics of the game, playing for first place and everything that entailed. It was a pretty good game -- on both ends of the floor. Probably our best."

Then came a chat with Michael Earl, who scored 17 points on 7-of-9 shootingl including three dunks.

Seemed like you guys turned up the intensity.

Earl: "We got a step back in the right direction. Basically, we're back on track. We kind of got off track, some injuries, maybe too much of the ranking got into our heads. Basically, those two losses humbled us and now we're back on track and doing what we do to win which is play hard on defense."

Is this your best game as a team?

Earl: "One of them. We scored into the 80s against a good team. They played a zone and the scoop on us is we don't play well against zones. Considering the team we played, against a zone, this is one of the better games we've played this season."

Fairly important victory, too.

Earl: "Definitely. They were ahead of us in the standings. It's definitely a big game. A lot was riding on us. This Is a good step into the second half of league."

Was the Jason Gilzene breakzaway dunk the best by your team this season?

Earl: "He got up pretty high. It was a nice dunk. Everybody is giving him props. He got really high on it. It was a nice crowd, and he got the crowd into it. It was a nice game, the atmosphere. we played really well. one of our better games. A good crowd, everybody showed up. It was a really good game."

Cal State is 8-2 after the first pass through the CCAA. Humboldt is 7-3. However, Humboldt has seven of its final 10 conference games at home, in Arcata, where it rarely loses -- aside from the regional title game to San Bernardino last season.

Cal State, meanwhile, plays six of its final 10 on the road, where it is a modest 3-2 in CCAA play.

Resurgent Cal Poly Pomona is tied with Humboldt for second, at 7-3, and the crowd at 6-4 includes UC San Diego, San Francisco State and Cal State L.A.

To see Michelle Gardner's story on the game that appeared in Sunday's newspapers ... click here.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Cal State San Bernardino regains sole possession of the lead atop the CCAA basketball standings at 8-2 (15-3 overall), with defending conference champ Humboldt (12-5) a game behind. Cal State entered the game 18th ranked in the nation, and Humboldt was 17.

Senior 6-9 center Michael Earl scored 17 to lead Cal State. Lance Ortiz had 14, Dave Reichel had 11 and Devon Davis had 10 off the bench, which was key because he played significant minutes in the first half when Earl was out with foul trouble.

Cal State trailed at half and appeared to be be just hanging on ... but turned it up in the second.

Great atmosphere. Crowd was nearly 2,600, and it was noisy. Two pep bands, lots of Cal State students, which doesn't always happen.

And it was quality basketball. Not USC and UCLA, but you can see it from here. Some guys who play above the rim (Cal State had four dunks, three by Earl and one massive, violent two-handed breakaway jam by Jason Gilzene). Some very nice shooters. Very high energy basketball between well-coached, well-disciplined team.

It's a pleasure to watch guys play as hard as they do in this conference.

I am reminded of something a journalist from another Inland Empire newspaper said, a year or two ago, when he covered a Cal State game in Coussoulis for the first time, and was impressed by what he saw. The guy asked, "How come there aren't more people here?"

He thought that anyone who saw a game here MUST want to come back, and the word should have gotten around ... But no. Too many games on TV, maybe? Too far to drive? It's weird, because this is great fun.

I firmly believe Coyotes basketball is one of the great sports entertainment values in the Inland Empire. Great venue, high caliber basketball, a home team that has been winning about 80 percent of its games for a decade now.

Cal State was helped by the return of Earl for most of the second half. He neutralized Humboldt's big man, Cy Vandermeer, and scored almost at will.

Mostly, it was a victory for Cal State's depth. Coach Jeff Oliver used 11 guys, and eight of them scored. In the second half, Humboldt seemed to be running on fumes, and Oliver made it tougher on the visitors by springing the zone press on them for minutes at a time.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 9:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The little kid who starts at point guard for Humboldt State is pretty good. Perhaps because he played with a really good player in high school.

That would be Kevin Love, UCLA's starting center.

Spada was the No. 2 scorer a year ago at Lake Oswego (Ore.) High School. Behind Love, the star of the team, obviously.

Humboldt is a good program, and to start as a freshman is a fairly significant achievement. If you're not a prep god, like a Kevin Love or an O.J. Mayo.

Attendance is in: 2,597.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 8:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

High-energy game. Lots of up and down at full speed. Which sounds about right for a game involving teams tied for the CCAA lead.

Not particularly stylistic, though. Lots of contact, especially in the lane. Fourteen fouls in the half; probably should have been more.

Cal State has taken 10 more shots, made eight fewer turnovers (11-3) and has a rebounding advantage (16-14).

But Humboldt is ahead because it has shot 15 free throws to Cal State's five (including two on a technical foul on Cal State coach Jeff Oliver) ... and because far more of its shots have been in the paint.

Grayson Moyer has 15 points for Humboldt, but the guy who seems to be imposing his will on the game is Humboldt's 6-9 senior center Ty Vandermeer, who has nine points, five rebounds and three blocks. He is taking away the middle. Humboldt has very nice interior passing, too.

Michael Earl, Cal State's 6-9 center, was scoring points right with Vandermeer early, including a pair of effortless dunks, but he got his second foul halfway through the first 20 minutes and went to the bench.

Cal State went into a funk after that, getting down as many as nine before a couple of threes got them back in it.

Cal State has settled for threes on 13 of its 32 shots, making only four of them.

Good crowd. No record, of course. Maybe 2,500 in a place that holds about 4,500.

Just getting people in this gym is always a good thing, for Cal State. It's still the nicest arena between the Galen Center and ... Phoenix? Nicer than Fullerton, bigger than Irvine ... Yeah, still the best between downtown L.A. and downtown Phoenix.

But I've always felt as if a significant fraction of people living in the San Bernardino area have never been in this gym. Nor on this campus. "Hidden," as it is, behind Little Mountain.

Cal State needs Michael Earl to get back in and score and not pick up that third foul for several minutes. Otherwise, they're going to be a game behind Humboldt in about a half-hour, and facing a game on Humboldt's floor the final weekend of the season.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 8:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A.C. Green, former Lakers forward, is sitting in the front row on the bleachers (students) side.

But he is sitting behind the Humboldt State bench because his nephew, 6-6 junior forward Nick Green, is a backup for the Lumberjacks.

A.C. was on his feet, cheering, a moment ago as his nephew put in a reverse layup.

He may be the first NBA veteran to see a game here.

His appearance was noted by PA voice J.J. Gould, before the game, and A.C. stood up and waved.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 7:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A cheerleader who looked as if she were straining beneath the weight ... just ran around the gym floor carrying one of those oversize flags.

It has "CSUSB" on it, and beneath the initials reads "Coyotes."

It's powder blue and white, of course, the school's colors.

OK, one more step forward.

Four students at midcourt are chanting Cal State players' names during warmups. This is something UCLA students always do, in the minutes before the game. Players have to like it, people chanting their names.

"Lance Or-teez!" (clap clap clap ). "Lance Or-teez," (Clap, clap, clap).

They seemed to work through most of the team before the game started.

Nice. Two nice touches.

Keep it coming.

Oh, wait. A step backward. The band was playing even as the guy who's going to sing the national anthem came onto the floor. And they had been playing their first peppy song of the season, "YMCA" by the Village People.

Another problem: J.J. Gould is a detriment on the public address system. He is the master of the obvious. He actually tells people the score of the game ... he tells you how many points behind or ahead someone is. I mean, in case vision-impaired people are at the game?

Gould has a nice voice ... but his content is awful. And he always tends not to shut up. Sometimes you need to give it a rest. Gould rarely does.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 7:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cal State San Bernardino is making an effort in some of the areas that make basketball games fun. Thinking specifically of band and cheerleaders here. They have them, and once upon a time that wasn't a given.

But they need to tune up their approach.

It's 15 minutes until the men's game starts. But the cheerleaders have yet to do a thing except bustle about.

Cal State's band has about three people in place ... someone banging away on electric guitar, a drummer, a trombone player. It's like they're jamming in a club or somebody's garage ... instead of playing something contemporary ... with a driving beat.

It's like the Coyotes people have never been to a Division I game ... and don't have a clue.

Humboldt's band, however, is a little more up to speed.

First, give Humboldt's band a big hand for coming all the way down to SoCal, for the game at Pomona last night and the game here.

(At least we had a fairly nice, sunny day for them, most of today.)

I mean, you'd be keen to get out of Arcata for a weekend about now, if you lived there. It's almost rain forest up there in the northwest corner of the state.

Anyway, their band plays what I take to be the school's fight song, they play arena-style songs with driving beats and energy.

They also dress the part. Goofy, like a Stanford. They wear yellow hard hats (the team mascot is "Lumberjacks", remember) and green short pants, and yellow T-shirts with a picture of an ax on the back and the message "Kiss My Axe" written on it.

Cal State could learn from them. And from UCLA or USC, too.

Like, send a fact-finding mission to a game at Pauley Pavilion. Take notes. Try it for size. (Oh, yeah, Cal State PLAYED at Pauley twice this year.) Develop some traditions with fans and cheerleaders and band. Do this, this and this, and get fans used to it, and involved ...

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 7:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Vanessa Wilt scored 18 and took 20 rebounds as Cal State San Bernardino's women remained in at least a tie for the CCAA lead by defeating Humboldt State, 63-53.

That's 15 double-doubles in 16 games for Wilt, the 6-1 senior center from Hesperia. Her only miss? Last night, when she had 22 points and "only" seven rebounds against Sonoma State.

Nice crowd here at Coussoulis Arena in north Berdoo, but no way is the school sports attendance record of 4,297 going to fall on "Baker's Drive-Thru Pack the House Night," as it's officially known.

Maybe they wouldn't have regardless, but the threat of rain (it hadn't quite started by 6:30, when I got here) kept people home.

Unless 2,000 people show up in the next half-hour, that is.

The GA/student sections are pretty well filled, but the Grown-Ups Section, on the south side of the arena, is 90 percent empty.

Cal State's women are actually good, which is a bit of a surprise. Tied for the conference lead, with a good shot at making the West Regional, if they play well in the second half of the CCAA season.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 7:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cal State San Bernardino is hoping to break the school record for attendance at a school sports event when the men's basketball team plays Humboldt State at Coussoulis Arena at 7:30 tonight.

Tickets have been given to school kids and distributed by area Baker's restaurants ...

But you have to figure that enough people have looked at weather reports to pretty much quash any broken records tonight.

The record is 4,297, for a Cal Poly game in 2002 when the Coyotes were ranked No.1 in the nation in Division II and unbeaten.

Cal State has given away far more tickets than that 4,297 number, and a spokesman two days ago said it "would be interesting" if everyone actually used those tickets.

No worries. Not with the weather calling for significant rain starting about 4 p.m. (Get a current San Bernardino weather forecast here.)

We are weather sissies, here in SoCal, and if any sort of storm shows up (let alone the big one forecast) ... scads of people who might have checked out the game and the arena ... will stay home.

Pretty significant game. Cal State and Humboldt are tied for the CCAA lead with 7-2 record.

You might get wet going to the arena and returning to your car ... but it will be nice and dry inside the arena.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's not over, but it's over. It's Dallas 97, Lakers 88 with four-plus minutes left,

As they did in San Antonio two days ago, the Lakers played very nicely for a half (down by a point) ... then let things get away from them in the third quarter. They were down 17 in this one before they put together a rally to make it respectable.

We didn't really expect the Lakers to win either of these games. San Antonio was 19-4 at home, the Mavericks were 18-3, so a team missing three (Bynum, Ariza, Radmanovic) of its top nine players can't expect to go in and win on the other guy's court.

The key here is for the Lakers not to implode. Not to panic, because Bynum is gone for another six-plus weeks.

It would be nice to win at home against Cleveland and LeBron James on Sunday. And really nice (if not a requirement) to win at home against the Knicks on Tuesday.

Then they go out on the nine-game road trip with at least something good in their short-term memory banks.

The trip starts with games at Detroit and Toronto, and those will be tough. So if the Lakers don't beat LeBron and the Knicks ... they could be going back toward .500 in a hurry.

In the backs of the Lakers' minds is their collapse at this exact point in time a year ago. After 39 games. That could prey on their minds.

Lamar Odom and Luke Walton are two key players here. Neither is contributing significantly right now, and both could and should. Odom is particularly disappointing because he could do so much more ... but suffers long lapses of passivity and maybe just plain laziness.

Odom had four points and two rebounds on 2-of-9 shooting -- in 32 minutes. That's horrible for a guy with his talent and his salary ($13.2 million).

Kobe played like a madman ... which generally is good, but he was out of control at some key moments in the second half, and took a couple of scary spills. He scored 40 and played 45 minutes again, as he did on Wednesday.

It's over, now. Dallas 112-105. Lakers now 27-14 at the midway point of the season.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 7:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I suppose this is obvious. But I'm not sure I'd thought of it in a big-picture way. The last five football seasons collectively ... as opposed to thinking of them one at a time.

Here's how USC goes on a five-year run at the top:

USC won the AP version of the 2003 national title. The Trojans trashed Oklahoma to win the 2004 BCS national title. There's two.

Then the Trojans were a couple of bone-headed mistakes away from beating Texas for the 2005 BCS title. If Reggie Bush doesn't try that ridiculous lateral, if LenDale White converts the fourth-and-2 to kill the lock, if the USC defense gets a stop on that fourth-and-5 at the 8 instead of letting Vince Young score with 19 seconds left ... the Trojans win, and that's three straight titles.

Then in 2006 AND 2007, if the Trojans win either one of two quite winnable games -- Oregon State (33-31) and UCLA (13-9) in 2006, Stanford (24-23) and Oregon (24-17) in 2007 -- they are in the BCS title game again ... and they most certainly would have beaten Ohio State both times. Instead of seeing Florida and LSU handle the Buckeyes.

Anyway, Pete Carroll and the lads were that close to five straight.

And to think, no school has even won three consecutive national titles.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 7:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A small news item today about USC cornerback Mozique McCurtis quitting football so he can focus on academics -- to try to get ready for law school.

Thing about Mozique? He will be remembered only for something bad.

It was McCurtis who played ugly, brain-dead defense on the fourth-and-goal play from the 10 vs. Stanford in the Coliseum ...

He was turned around in the end zone and beaten by Mark Bradford, who caught a touchdown pass from Tavita Pritchard with 39 seconds to play -- the score that beat the Trojans 24-23 and cost them a shot at the national title.

I'm sure McCurtis made all sorts of small contributions to the program during the three years of eligibility he used up. Well, I assume he did. Because he never really worked his way into meaningful action. Until that Stanford game, when injuries at cornerback (Shareece Wright among them) ... forced the Trojans to use McCurtis in nickel coverage. And be the guy in the spotlight on the decisive play.

Sorry. That's how I will remember the guy. Like Zenon Andrusyshyn of UCLA missing the extra point in the 21-20 loss to USC -- 40 years ago. Like Scott Norwood missing the 47-yard field goal in the Super Bowl.

Some guys just get stuck with a mistake. A millstone around their necks. For life. Mozique McCurtis is one of them. It's sad, but there you are.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 6:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Remember how angry fans were when the Lakers traded Shaquille O'Neal in 2004? Kobe Bryant was trashed for allegedly pushing for the departure of The Big Aristotle. Management was savaged. How could the Lakers do that?

It might have been the smartest thing Jerry Buss and Mitch Kupchak ever did.

They had just seen Shaq labor through the playoffs, unable to put together consecutive strong games. He already clearly was in decline. Unable or unwilling to keep his weight down and get in top shape. And with his contract coming up.

Turns out, Shaq had one more significant season in him, one more good playoffs and one more title.

But had the Lakers kept Shaq, what would they look like now?

They would have an injury prone, 36-year-old (in March) center who is getting $20 million this season -- and the next TWO seasons. (Shaq already is averaging a career-low 14.2 points per game, and a puny 7.8 rebounds per game.)

The Lakers would not have Lamar Odom. They would have severe salary-cap problems. They would owe Shaq $40 million for two seasons in which he likely will produce little, if anything.

Maybe the Lakers win one more title with Shaq and Kobe together. (Assuming they didn't kill each other.) Probably not.

But they certainly wouldn't be a team on the rise, in 2007-08, as they are now. They wouldn't have Andrew Bynum because they wouldn't have been in the lotter in 2005.

Here is a stat to mull: Shaq has seven double-doubles this season. Bynum has 15 -- and he hasn't played in two weeks.

Shaq was great -- six, seven seasons ago. He was The Man.

But the Lakers did what good franchises do -- they traded a guy a year early rather than a year late. And now they have a future -- instead of nothing but a past.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

A few hours ago I almost included an item in my notes column (for Friday's newspapers) about how Darren Collison's position in the NBA draft was heading south.

I was talking to one of the most informed watchers of SoCal basketball, and he suggested Collison would go later in the 2008 draft that he would have in 2007. Maybe in the late 20s range.

Which is the opposite of what Collison had in mind when he came back for his junior season. He wanted to show he was a more developed, mature player, but the results just weren't there.

Well, he just played a very nice game at Oregon as the Bruins clawed past the Ducks, 80-75, after trailing by six late. Collison had a career-high 22 points, with six assists against only one turnover.

UCLA needed someone other than Kevin Love (26 points) to come up big, with Luc Mbah a Moute and Lorenzo Mata-Real out with post-concussion syndrome.

It wasn't Josh Shipp, who was held to seven points. It wasn't Alfred Aboya (three points).

It was Collison, the junior out of Etiwanda High School.

This was the first time this season in which Collison looked and played like the dominating point guard we saw in 2006-07 -- the guy who was good enough to warrant preseason All-America status.

Before tonight, the idea that Collison could be an All-America this season was ridiculous. And he probably won't be, given that it's almost February.

But he appears to have overcome the two injuries that bothered him the first 15 games -- the knee and hip issues. He looked fast, quick and ready to assert himself anew.

I'm glad I didn't make a point of suggesting he was heading south ... because he just made a statement in an important victory at Eugene.

Oh, and one more thing about Collison/Etiwanda. A kid he played with in high school, Jeff Pendergraph, a 6-9 forward at Arizona State, is thought to be a possible first-round NBA pick, too.

Meaning Etiwanda and coach Dave Kleckner had TWO potential NBA first-rounders on their 2005 team. No wonder they won a CIF title.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 9:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tyson Chandler was a 13-year-old phenom back at Arrowview Middle School in San Bernardino in 1995. He already was 6-foot-8 and The Next Big Thing ...

But instead of going to Pacific or San Bernardino high schools, in his hometown, he enrolled at Compton Dominguez and played there. He probably got more attention, though Pacific (in particular) would have played some big games if he had gone there at a time when the Pirates were making the CIF semifinals every year.

Anyway, Chandler went straight into the NBA, skipping college ... and he seemed to disappear. His first four seasons in the league, he rarely started, never averaged 10 rebounds OR points.

He was drafted by the Clippers, back in 2000, and traded immediately for Elton Brand, and for a long time it was more than just a bad trade ... it was a HORRIBLE trade.

Well, the Berdoo kid finally is making his mark.

Chandler, who grew to 7-feet, is one of the key components of the New Orleans Hornets, who are 29-12 -- the best record in the Western Conference.

He is averaging a career-best 12.4 points per game and 12.2 rebounds per game.

He has become a significant defensive presence for the Hornets, who have turned into a serious team, with Chris Paul and Peja Stojavokic.

Thing about Chandler: This is his seventh season in The League but he is still only 25. And now that he seems to be getting it ... he could be one of the league's more important centers for the next 4-5 years.

That's the player he was supposed to be, when he was being chased by every college in the country. It took a while, but he finally is getting there. He isn't Kareem, but he's a real player. Finally.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 8:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ack. Lakers took a step back tonight. The Spurs were awful in the first half but the Lakers led by only nine, then L.A. went scoreless for the first seven minutes of the second half and the Spurs took the lead. San Antonio played one good half and beat the Lakers with ease. Not a good sign for the start of this tough, 11-of-13 on the road streak they're on.

The day my Kobe-could-win-the-MVP thing appeared in newspapers ... he reverted back to his (bad) form of the past few years, especially in the second half, hogging the ball, taking bad shots and turning it over a lot.

Kobe was 12-for-27 shooting, including 1-for-7 to open the second half when the Lakers offense went dead. He also made a season-high nine turnovers but played heavy, heavy minutes -- like, 45 of the 48.

It's not a horrible defeat. The Spurs are the defending champs, after all, and though they've been limp much of this season they turned it up pretty seriously in the second half. Tim Duncan was particularly big, scoring 28 (11-of-21 shooting) with 17 rebounds and three blocks. And a guy named Ude Udoka had 18, which wasn't something Phil Jackson planned on.

But the Lakers had a chance to win before they unraveled. Now they go to Dallas, where the Mavericks are 18-3. Hmm. Then they come home for a game with LeBron and Cavs on Sunday.

They need to win one of those. Not both. But at least one ... or they're going to start thinking about the injury-fueled implosion they went through last year after the exact number of games (39) they had played before this game. They were 26-13 a year ago, 27-12 this year.

They went 16-27 the rest of the way last year. They're 0-1 so far this season.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 8:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just looking at rosters here ... and I knew some of the names in advance.

Giants receiver Amani Toomer. Pronounced, yes, "tumor". Now there is an unfortunate name. What, "Cyst" was already taken?

And backup Giants tackle Guy Whimper. I am not making this up. The man is 300 pounds and his name is Guy Whimper. Can you have a football name less flattering than that? "Dude Whiner" maybe?

Coolest name on the Giants: Defensive back R.W. McQuarters. He's got the whole package. The initials, which always seem "football" to me ... and an interesting pair of initials, too (not your run-of-the-mill D.J./O.J. thing) ... and McQuarters ... it just sounds strong. I may have my name changed to that. I like Reuben Droughns, too. And Kevin Boss is a good football name, if a little obvious.

The Patriots are a little better off, overall.

They've got a couple of decrepit linebackers whose names are still cool, even if they aren't.

Tedy Bruschi. Pronounced "brew-ski" ... as in, "I'll have a brewski." Why doesn't this man have a sponsorship with a brewery?

And Junior Seau. Pronounced "Say-ow" ... like what guys used to say when Junior hit them, back in the day.

Logan Mankins sounds like a tough guy, befitting a 300-pound guard. Richard Seymour and Rodney Harrison sound like English actors from the middle of the 20th century.

LeKevin Smith is kind of a mess, but the Giants have a Plaxico, so call that a push.

Have to give the Patriots an edge at head coach, too. Bill Belichick sounds like a football guy. Tom Coughlin sounds like somebody who ought to be running "Boys Town."

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I can't get over this. Every time I see Eli Manning with his helmet off, or hear him talk, I'm just overwhelmed by the man's astonishing ... dorkiness.

THAT guy is a professional athlete? Not only that, but a quarterback? And not only that but a Super Bowl quarterback?

Eli looks as if he came straight out of a casting call for "Revenge of the Nerds III" ... except he was sent away for being TOO nerdy. "We want someone more believable as a real person, not someone with dork makeup on."

(Here is an unflattering youtube video of Eli, throwing an interception and losing a fumble. It's supposed to be a parody.)

Tom Brady being the other quarterback in the Super Bowl only makes it worse for poor Eli. Since Brady generally is considered to be a taller, handsomer version of Matt Damon. Brady is the 2008 prototype of "Adonis as athlete."

And then there's Eli, who aspires to "goofy-looking."

I mean, it's not his fault he looks dorky. Presumably he was born that way, though one wonders how that worked out, given that his father, former NFL quarterback Archie Manning is a decent-looking guy and his mother HAD to be an attractive woman (since NFL QBs don't marry homely folks).

It's not as if Big Brother Peyton is movie-star handsome, but Eli ...

It doesn't help things when Eli starts talking, either, because he's got a big "Gomer Pyle quotient" to him. Or maybe more like a Forrest Gump thing, to make a more modern connection. "Well, GOLL--EE!"

Anyway, Eli vs. Brady is a mismatch on a lot of levels ... right down to how they look when cameras are pointed at them. Giants fans can only hope looks don't count for anything in Super Bowls, because if they do get ready for about four interceptions from Eli.

Give Eli this: He has to give hope to nerds everywhere. Clearly, then can aspire to things other than massive fortunes from dot-com startup companies. They also can be a Super Bowl QB.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's a tough time to try to walk the line between interesting, funny ... and insulting.

(I won't say "insensitive," because EVERYONE is ultra-sensitive these days, and I probably offended someone by noting it.)

Anyway, a woman who works for ESPN, name of Dana Jacobson, apparently was quite drunk at a roast earlier this month for the "Mike & Mike" guys who do an ESPN radio show ... and said some stuff that was just dumb. Probably because she was drunk. Did we mention that?

ESPN conceded today she has been suspended for a week.

Remember, she got into trouble for her remarks at a ROAST ... events designed to be raunchy. To get in trouble at a roast, you not only have to cross the line between funny and insulting ... you have to stray over it by about 100 yards.

The remarks that got her in trouble were reported to have been her suggestion that something quite rude be done to "Notre Dame" and "Touchdown Jesus" and "Jesus."

The idea was to zing Mike Golic, one of the Mikes involved and a Notre Dame alumnus ... but it wasn't stuff even fans of "South Park" would find amusing.

The earliest report on the roast didn't mention her alleged comments ... but did say she was spectacularly drunk and so unfunny as to be booed off the stage.

Comedy isn't pretty, as Steve Martin used to say.

Here is a link to a Chicago Tribune story on it.

My take? A suspension of one week is probably the maximum sentence for this kind of "crime." I mean, it was a roast, and not being televised, and she showed bad judgment.

Something else to consider here is this: At this point in American history, just about anything will offend someone, and if you are really working at it, as Dana Jacobson was, it could cost you a week's pay.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was doing research on a piece on Kobe Bryant that will appear in Wednesday's newspapers when I discovered a bunch of things you might find interesting.

To wit:

--Leading the NBA in scoring average doesn't make you a great player or your team particularly successful. Wilt Chamberlain led the NBA in scoring six times; he won two NBA titles, one in Los Angeles when he was a rebounder first. George Gervin won the scoring title four times and never played for a title. Bob McAdoo won it three times, Adrian Dantley twice ...

--Two guys' scoring skill clearly helped them win a batch of championships. Michael Jordan, who won 10 scoring titles but also six NBA titles ... and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who won two scoring titles but was MVP six times and won, what, five NBA titles? Six? One in Milwaukee, the rest with the Lakers.

--Nobody who played for a team that didn't win at least 50 games has been named NBA MVP since 1982, when the Houston Rockets went 46-36 but center Moses Malone was MVP. Which is a big reason why Kobe Bryant can be considered one of the 1-2 best players in the game yet not come close to winning an MVP, so far.

--Allen Iverson, in 2001, is the last guy to win the scoring title and also be voted MVP. Though it had been done the year before, too, when Shaquille O'Neal was the top scorer AND the MVP -- for the one and only time in his career.

--Kobe Bryant averaged 35.4 points per game in 2005-06, and that was the highest season-ending total since Michael Jordan put up 37.1 for the 1986-87 Bulls. (Who did NOT win an NBA title, by the way.)

--Jordan won five MVPs, but Kareem won six. Jordan, however, is considered the best player who ever lived, even though Kareem won as many titles and scored more points in a longer career.

--What do Nate Archibald, Rick Barry, Alex English, Bernard King and Dominique Wilkins have in common? All won scoring titles.

--Iverson led the league in scoring four times, and as recently as 2005. Yet he has zero rings and one appearance in the Finals.

--Tracy McGrady led the league in scoring in consecutive seasons, 2003 and 2004, but none of his teams has ever won even a single playoffs round.

Hmm. Anyway, some interesting stuff, I thought.

And if you want to be MVP? Be the best player on the team with the best regular-season record. That is the best formula for success.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 3:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"A good win for us," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

The Lakers are down to about seven useful players, eight if you count Javaris Crittenton or Sasha Vujacic (and I don't), so any win is a good win, in those circumstances.

They mixed and matched what they have left well enough tonight to subdue the Nuggets, leaders of the Northwest Division, coming into the game.

Kobe Bryant's willingness to accept that the Nuggets were committed to keeping him from scoring was key. They swarmed him whenever he touched the ball and he responded the way a heady veteran should -- by passing it off to wide-open teammates such as Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar, who between them made nine three-pointers.

Kobe didn't score until 8:40 was left in the half (on a pair of free throws), and didn't have a field-goal attempt until the 7:58 mark, when he made a 15-footer. He took only seven shots in 38-plus minutes, and that has to be some sort of record of Kobe self-discipline.

The Nuggets were hurt by the loss of Carmelo Anthony, who rolled his left ankle in the second quarter when he came down on Bryant's foot. He didn't return.

It seems like the Nuggets ought to be better than they are. They have Anthony, when he's healthy, Allen Iverson, Marcus Camby, Kenyon Martin ... it seems like they should be formidable. But they're not, quite.

The Lakers moved ahead in the first quarter on a hale of threes, and after the Nuggets struggled back to take a 79-77 lead, the Lakers went on a 14-2 tear fueled by another spate of threes, three by Fisher and one by Farmar, and after that they nursed the lead home.

Kobe finished with 17 points and a season-high 11 assists. Farmer outscored Kobe, 19-17, and that may not happen again soon.

The Lakers are 27-12, one game ahead of where they were a year ago ... which was when the injuries mounted and the wheels came off their wagon and they struggled into the playoffs -- and got handled by Phoenix.

They go out now to play at San Antonio and Dallas. A split would be nice. But maybe not realistic, without Andrew Bynum, Trevor Ariza and Vlad Radmanovic. Considering San Antonio is 19-4 at home and Dallas is 18-3.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A little thin on the ground here tonight.

We've got more sports celebs than Hollywood celebs.

O.J. Mayo of USC. Frank Robinson, Hall of Fame outfielder. Some other sports figure I've already forgotten. Shoot. Oh, yeah, it was Cobi Jones. The Original Cobi/Koby/Kobe, from what I can tell.

Also, Don Johnson, onetime star. (What has he done lately? Didn't think so.) Glenn Frey of the Eagles. Dyan Cannon, but she's always here. The Guy in the Weird Hat and Scary Beard Who Sits Next to Nicholson is here, but Jack isn't.

And our biggest star of the night ... Andy Garcia. An actual star. Wonder if he feels weird to be here all by himself. He's not even sitting courtside, either ... he's about 10 rows up, across from the Lakers bench. That actually is cooler, sitting in the stands. I mean, yeah, it's still a seat that costs, like, $300, but it says "I'm here to see the game" as opposed to "Look at me, I'm famous and I'm courtside."

But I let Nicholson slide on that one because he really IS there to see games ... and i think he just wants to be as close as possible to the action.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 8:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm sitting in the smaller media pod, at the east end of the floor. It's an area only three rows deep, and it's mostly TV guys and radio people, and I'm in the third row ... and there are fans about five feet behind me.

Anyway, I heard something truly astonishing about five minutes ago.

Kwame Brown, he of the stone hands and rim-banging offense ... got the ball about 10 feet from the basket. And a woman behind me shouted, "Shoot it, Kwame!"

Instead, the big oaf tried to maneuver to the basket, and was guilty of a charge ...

And I couldn't help myself. I turned and talked to a fan. Which I never do, but this was a special case.

I said to her, "You can't be serious!"

And she looked at me, a woman of about 25, and said, "Why not?"

And I said, "It's Kwame!"

She looked back with defiance. As if she meant what she said and would say it again, no matter that it possibly could have been the dumbest three words uttered inside Staples all night.

Maybe it was his sister. Maybe it was his girlfriend. Otherwise, she had no excuse for suggesting that big stiff launch a shot at a rim he can't actually reach out and touch. That's his range: If he can reach the rim with his hand, go ahead and shoot it. Otherwise, pass it before you drop it, dude.

Anyone paying the slightest attention knows this. Apparently, that very large group of people did not include the fan behind me.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 8:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Denver got to the rim repeatedly in the first 12 minutes. Dunks, putbacks ... it looked like a layup line.

AND, Kobe Bryant not only doesn't have a point, he hasn't taken a shot.

But the Lakers are up 10 because Derek Fisher made 6-of-8, including two threes, and has 16 points -- only 13 short of his career single-game high.

Jordan Farmar came on to make another five points on 2-of-3 shooting, giving the Lakers' point guards 21 points in the quarter.

Allen Iverson, the guy who should be checking those guys, in theory, has eight points, which is fine, but he's letting people run free at the other end.

I will say, the Little Kid, as Larry Brown inevitably referred to AI him during the 2001 NBA Finals, is still quick as all get out. No one Laker can stay in front o fhim. Still.

Kobe's lack of shots is a function of a little guy (Anthony Carter) chasing him around aggressively, and the Nuggets sending a big man to double team him every time he catches the ballo. So he's giving it up over and again, and so far it's working out.

Oh, and check this: The Lakers have 47 points and Kobe has none of them, even though he has been on the floor all 15 minutes and 20 seconds of game action so far. What are the odds of that?

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 8:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I came here with a column idea, for Wednesday's newspapers ... involving the Lakers.

I gave very little thought to who was playing tonight, and it turns out it's a fairly interesting matchup. Kobe Bryant and the Lakers against Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets.

Those are three NBA superstars, or about two more than you might expect out of your normal NBA game.

Man, is Iverson little. Dinky. Can't weigh more than 160 pounds.

Anyway, the fans are semi-into it. Aside from those in the courtside seats, of course, who are too cool to be excited about a game in January.

Oh, and tonight's other subplot ... when will the booing of Kwame Brown commence? Dude is awful, but only of late have fans decided to hold him accountable for it.

He's already missed a short jump hook.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 7:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OK, so I'm on the way to see the Lakers play the Nuggets at Staples Center ... and I run into gridlock. On a holiday.

I thought Martin Luther King Day was fairly safe, in terms of traffic. Nothing special. Maybe light. Almost all government workers off, right, and don't they make up, like, half the workforce these days?

But no. I was crawling by Fontana, on the west-bound 10. I was stop and go before the 15.

Hearing there was a wreck on the west 10 at Holt, I decided to hop over to the 15, to the 60 ... except "hop" is not the proper description of my next half hour ... spent crawling onto and down the 15 south ...

When I got to the 60 west, finally things let up.

I got to Staples well before tipoff, and I'm not writing anything live, so I'm fine, as far as the job goes.

But I learned something about current Southland traffic.

1. MLK Day should henceforth be considered on a par with any other three-day Monday night, with awful congestion coming down the 15 and west on the 10 and 210. People coming back from Las Vegas and the desert, that is.

2. Rain will NOT help any commute. A teensy bit of it freaks us out, and I hit occasional drizzle.

3. Actually, you don't need a holiday OR bad weather to run into bad traffic -- going any direction at any time of day, from the IE to San Diego to OC and Ventura County. It's just bad. Always. And it almost certainly will get worse.

I may have mentioned a time or 10 ... I have no earthly idea how some of you commute 100-plus miles five days a week.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 7:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Patriots did what they were supposed to do.

The Packers did not.

And now we have a Super Bowl we didn't really want, a Super Bowl matching the New England Patriots and the New York Giants.

Ack.

New England defeated the San Diego Chargers 21-12, yes. But then the Packers and Giants played a weird game in the sub-zero temperatures of Green Bay, and Brett Favre and the Packers never really got it going, and the Giants won 23-20 in overtime.

Again. Ack.

Favre was awful, especially in the second half and overtime, when he appeared to have no idea where he was throwing the ball. It left me wondering if deep cold takes more of a toll the older you are. (I think it does). Which might explain why Favre, who is 38, looked as if he were barely conscious after halftime.

The Packers were on their heels the whole second half. They got a touchdown thanks to a silly unnecessary roughness penalty that led to a short touchdown pass ... and a field goal after the Giants' R. W. McWhorters fumbled away an interception of Favre.

The Giants had a pair of touchdowns in the second half, and a pair of missed field goals, including one to end regulation.

The Packers won the flip for overtime, and on the second play Favre threw a horrendous pass, way short, way late, and intercepted by Corey Webster of the Giants, and a minute or two later the Giants got the winning field goal. And there went our dream Super Bowl, the Packers (the real America's Team) and the unbeaten Patriots.

(I'm writing more about this topic for the Monday newspapers.)

Said Favre: "It felt like everything had fallen into place. All that was left was to play the game ... I was disappointed that the last pass I threw in this game was intercepted and gave them a chance to win.

"We didn't play as well in the second half as we did in the first half, and once again give them credit."

He conceded the Packers felt as if they were blowing their chances to put away the game and get on to Glendale, Ariz., where they might thaw out in time for the game.

"For me, i was thinking how many opportunities are we going to let slip away? And we couldn't give them as many opportunities as we gave them, and that's what happened. We had chances to move the ball and get at least a field goal ... we never could get our running game untracked, which played a big part of it. too."

Said Super Bowl QB Eli Manning. (Yes, Eli Manning.) "You never know when you're going to get your opportunity, you never know when you're going to click and get hot ...

"We're going to Arizona and we're fired up."

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

AFC title game:

New England three touchdowns (21), San Diego four field goals (12).

The Chargers played very well. Limiting New England to 21 points is quite an accomplishment, even if the weather perhaps made it a little difficult for the Patriots to do as much as they wanted to, on offense.

And the Chargers moved the ball fairly well, too. Until New England's final drive, the Chargers had outgained the Patriots.

What killed the Chargers, and something they no doubt will think about on the flight home, is their inability to score touchdowns out of these situations: First-and-goal at the 9 in the first quarter; first-and-goal at the 9 in the second quarter. Third-and-1 at the 4 in the third quarter.

In each case, the Chargers gave the ball to running back Michael Turner (LaDainian Tomlinson's replacement) and on those three plays he went for 1 yard, 1 yard and minus-2.

The first two situations then turned into low-percentage passing downs, and the third meant a field goal on the next play.

The Chargers came into the game known as a power-running team. But they failed to demonstrate it in those three situations, and that's why their upset chance went away.

New England got touchdowns when it got close, aside from the end zone interception Tom Brady threw in the third quarter. Which is what good teams do, of course, and the Patriots are very, very good. Like, 18-0 good.

What should the Chargers have done? Well, they could have executed better on those running plays. Or they could have thrown the ball on at least one of those three occasions, conceding that NFL teams (themselves included) have severe trouble running the ball when the other side is almost certain you're going to run it.

Patriots are in. The best matchup, the most fun, would be the Packers. But they trail early on the frozen tundra.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This really is the worst day of the football season. The NFL conference title games. If you watch them end to end, and even most casual fans do, you can blow an entire Sunday, no problem.

So, struck by a sudden surge of energy ... or maybe it was more just a commitment to go outside while the sun was out ... I took a walk around the neighborhood. About 45 minutes, actually.

I went up into the hills behind me, and looked at a new tract of homes, one that goes right up to the National Forest boundary, and broke a slight sweat.

It's a nice day. Which you would never know if you sat around waiting for the AFC title game to begin.

Sun is out, valley is fairly clear, it's the low 60s ... and from the highest point in the last tract, you get a nice view of the San Bernardino Valley. And I can tell you that, still, the runways of the former Norton Air Force Base remain the most visually arresting feature of the valley, at least here at the Berdoo/Highland end.

I felt better about myself when I came back, knowing I would spend the next seven hours watching a lot of commercials and a bit of pro football. I mean, I didn't miss the WHOLE day.

So, at halftime, New England 14, San Diego 9. Closer than I thought, but don't you have a sense the Chargers have missed their chance to be in the lead? Three field goals, no touchdowns?

I'm not sure they can play better. I know the Patriots can play better.

Back to the TV, the modern opiate of the masses.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 1:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Landon Donovan talked about breaking the U.S. soccer career record for goals scored, after the U.S. defeated Sweden 2-0 before 14,878 at the Home Depot Center.

I asked him to name the most significant goal from among his 35, his personal favorite and what it means to him to be the No. 1 scorer in U.S. soccer history.

Said Donovan: "Most significant goal? I guess the Mexico goal in the (2002) World Cup, because it's the World Cup. The most enjoyable, the one against Ecuador last year, the third one (a 20-yard strike into the upper corner of the net, which you see at the end of this five-minute clip).

"How important is it? I wouldn't classify it as important but it's something I'm very proud of, more so than scoring goals, being a part of the team for a long time, being here and contributing. That being said, I can still be better and I'm excited about that."

What does he plan to do with the ball in play when he scored his 35th goal?

"Sell it. Like Barry Bonds. Go for it. (I'll get) about 20 cents. No, I'll put it somewhere."

U.S. coach Bob Bradley was asked about Donovan's performance.

"He still feels he can get a lot better," Bradley said. "We're trying to get all these guys to get better. We feel that with everything he has accomplished so far in his career there are a lot of little things we can help him with ... There's no telling what he can do."

Landon was asked about being named team captain for tonight's match. Especially in view of his losing the captain's armband last season when David Beckham joined the club, and often being bypassed in national team games in 2007, Bradley's first year as coach.

"Last year was a little hard, because losing the captaincy with the Galaxy and thinking for most of the year that I should be the captain of the U.S. team ... at the moment that it happened it was difficult.

"The more I looked inside, it wasn't something I was earning. So it's important for me to earn that. It's not good enough to say I've been here a long time and I have a lot of caps. It doesn't mean I'm a captain. I wanted to make sure these couple weeks (of national team training) that I showed that (the captaincy was earned), and I was glad and proud that Bob noticed that."

Maurice Edu, the midfielder out of Etiwanda, said Donovan has turned into an elder statesman, even though Donovan won't be 26 until March.

"All the younger guys try to learn from him," said Edu, who went all 90 minutes in his third career appearance. "He's a good guy to have in the locker room and a good guy on and off the pitch. His presence is felt out there. He's a guy you can look to for advice.

"You definitely can learn a lot from him. So the young guys like myself, Jozy (Altidore), Sasha (Kljestan), all the young guys here in camp, we're definitely looking to learn as much as we can from him because he's been to the highest level and played at the highest level."

Does Donovan make his presences felt as someone to emulate, or someone younger guys can talk to?

"He's a real approachable guy," Edu said. "He's a good guy. If you have questions you can approach him. There's no fear or anything. He's a real approachable guy. He's good to have around."

Donovan was very subdued in a post-match press conference, often staring into space when Bradley (seated next to him) was answering questions. Donovan later said his mother, Donna, missed the match, because she is ill. "She's gonna be bummed," he said.

Asked afterward, before he left the stadium, if he were OK, he said yes, he was. I suggested he looked like a guy whose dog had just died, and he said, "I'm just tired. It's been a long camp."

Well, maybe. I wonder if there are tensions between Donovan and Bradley, who has moved him to the right side of midfield after Donovan spent most of the previous four years at forward or central midfield, generally considered more prominent roles.

We shall see.

He did manage a smile when i asked him about whether he had heard from Eric Wynalda, whose career goals record he broke, and a guy who often has been bluntly critical of Donovan while doing commentary for ESPN.

Said Donovan: "Nope. Haven't talked. He's probably bitter. That's the best part."

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 8:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Landon Donovan broke a tie with Eric Wynalda atop the U.S. all-time scoring list by banging home his 35th career goal in the early minutes of the second half.

Donovan took a penalty after Josmer Altidore was taken down on the edge of the goalie box by Sweden's Mattias Byarsmyr.

Landon was pretty fired up after firing the ball into the right side of the goal. ... He did a bit of a run, then recalled he might want that ball as a trophy of his record-setting goal ... and he fetched it as it rolled back onto the playing field.

He tossed it to a trainer on the sideline, and waved at fans who already were on their feet, cheering, even before the PA announcer intoned that he had just set a record by scoring his 35th goal.

Donovan, the Redlands native, got his 35th goal in his 97th national-team appearance.

Wynalda had 34 goals in 106 appearances, from 1990-2000.

Donovan is only 25 and, barring injury, should have another four years of internationals ahead of him. And maybe more, if he is healthy and interested. He would be 32 when the 2014 World Cup rolls around.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 6:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you've got the Bruins and Trojans at 12:30, why not the U.S. national soccer team vs. Sweden at the Home Depot Center at 5:30?

It was doable. Just. Driving down from Westwood after writing a column there. Traffic in L.A. on the weekends is now completely crazy, as any of you who drive down here know. It took me a full hour to go about 20 miles.

I'm here to see the MLS half of the U.S. national team, which includes Landon Donovan, the Redlands kid, and Maurice Edu, Major League Soccer rookie of the year (at Toronto) from Fontana (Etiwanda High School).

Both are starting in midfield, Landon wide right and Edu in the center, with a bit of a defensive cast to him.

There are people here, fans, which surprises me. It's outdoors, it's January, it's Sweden, not some Latin team with a built in fan base already living in SoCal.

I'd guess there are close to 10,000 in the house ... and that's pretty good.

Anyway, the U.S. team is without probably 7-8 of its starters, if the Europe-based guys were here. Among them: defender Carlos Bocanegra (Rancho Cucamonga), defender Steve Cherundolo, defender Oguchi Onyewu, midfielder/forward Clint Dempsey, keeper Tim Howard and defender Eddie Lewis. If this were a qualifier (and those begin later this year), they probably would be here and, yes, start. And maybe midfielder Michael Bradley, too, seeing as how he's competent AND the son of coach Bob Bradley.

It's 1-0 U.S. ... on an Eddie Robinson goal from close range after a deflection of a header ... from a corner kick.

Sweden has had several good chances, all of them stopped by keeper Brad Guzan, the Chivas USA guy who is moving up fast in the USA keeper heirarchy.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 6:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Didn't see this one coming. No. We thought the Bruins pretty much would bury the Trojans and go to 5-0 in the Pac-10, and USC would fall to 1-4 and in a major hole.

But USC dominated inside and was the superior team in transition, and those advantages were enough to offset UCLA advantages in rebounds, steals and turnovers, and the Trojans won, 72-63.

The Trojans now matter again, in the Pac-10 scheme of things, and are back in the NCAA Tournament hunt in a big way. Beating the nation's No. 4-ranked team is good for your record, you know?

UCLA had two of its big men (Luc Mbah a Moute and Lorenzo Mata-Real) suffer concussions and leave the game, but neither of those guys would have made much of a difference in a game that emphasized athleticism and speed. Two things those guys don't have much of.

Davon Jefferson poured in a career high 25 points, 10 on layups and six on dunks, and took nine rebounds, and Taj Gibson scored nine points and had eight rebounds and five assists and was effective in keeping Love under control -- without fouling him, often a Gibson problem.

Love had 18, but he needed 15 shots to get it.

The turning moments in the game came during two spasms of up-tempo play, one in each half. UCLA was demonstrably inferior in the open court, and USC runs of 14-4 (in the first half) and 6-0 late in the second wiped out Bruins leads -- and came while the game was decidedly helter-skelter, a pace the Bruins should not have gotten caught up in.

Both teams go to Oregon next week. UCLA gets another shot at the Trojans, on Feb. 17.

UCLA will need to keep that game at an orderly pace, and get more scoring from the perimeter to pull USC's defense out. At least a little.

Fun game, though. Glad I went.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UCLA was down as many as eight as O.J. Mayo got going and the Trojans continued to dominate inside.

But then Josh Shipp fueled a rally with a couple of threes, and the Bruins are out front.

Luc Mbah a Moute is done for the day, UCLA officials say, with a concussion.

Considering Mbah a Moute was awful ... to the tune of 1-for-7 for two points ... you have to wonder if he got hurt before he came out. I imagine he would prefer we think that.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 1:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just got a call from my sports-fan mom who is watching this game at home .... and she told me one of the CBS announcers -- apparently Verne Lundquist, not Billy Packer -- accidentally referred to USC freshman O.J. Mayo as "O.J. Simpson."

Oops.

Probably not the first time that has happened. And it won't be the last.

If it's me, I'm not sure I go by the initials "O.J." for, oh, the next 20 years or so.

Mayo's "O.J." is Ovinto J'Anthony.

I think I'd go with, oh, "Vin" or "Vinto" ... or even "Ovinto" or "J'Anthony." Anything but O.J.

O.J. Simpson is "Orenthal James" ...

I mentioned the CBS gaffe to a couple of the writers here on press row, and one said, "O.J. Simpson has only two less points than O.J. Mayo."

Mayo has two free throws in the first half, but the Trojans are hanging around, trailing only 32-31.

A key: USC's two bigs, Taj Gibson and Davon Jefferson, are outplaying the UCLA big men to a standstill. Kevin Love has seven points, but Luc Mbah a Moute has two on 1-for-6 shooting, Alfred Aboya has no points on 0-for-3 and Lorenzo Mata-Real also is scoreless. That's nine points from four bigs on 3-for-17 shooting.

Meanwhile. Gibson has seven points on 3-for-3, and Jefferson has 10 on 5-for-8. That's 17 points from two guys on 8-for-11.

Their athleticism has proved decisive, and the main reason the Trojans are staying close, even with O.J. Simpson ... uh, Mayo ... in the lineup.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For those who keep talking up a football playoffs ... look at what the NCAA Tournament and the myraid conference tournaments do to the college basketball regular season.

Few specific regular-season games mean all that much. You can lose four or five or six of them, and if you're conference is strong enough -- the Pac-10, the ACC, the SEC, the Big Ten, etc. -- you're still going to make the tournament,.

But before that you have the conference tournament, which gives the bottom-feeders in every conference a chance to get into the Big Dance by winning the tourney.

Anyway, none of it means very much, on a game by game basis.

Unless it is like this one: A game against your arch-rival.

USC-UCLA is serious, no matter the sport or the time of year. That's just how it is.

But also, UCLA wants to put some more distance between itself and its pursuers in the Pac-10 standings (conference champion is the regular-season champion, not the tourney winner) ... and it wouldn't mind leaving USC at 1-4 in the conference.

The Bruins also is the rare Pac-10 team, along with Washington State, that is thinking in terms of a No. 1 regional seed, going into the tournament. It makes your chances of getting to the Final Four infinitely better.
(A first-round bye, essentiall, an 8-9 seed in the second round ... then a 4-5 seed in the regional semis ...

And the wild card to this game is the O.J. Mayo-Kevin Love showdown. The two freshman phenoms. Or alleged phenoms. (Love has done a lot more than Mayo, so far.)

Both guys will be in the NBA next season, so they will be on the same college floor exactly twice. Today and Feb. 17 at the Galen Center.

So, this game means a bit more. Which would explain why people in the arena are fired up, and the media is here en masse, and this is The Event of the day in the L.A. market.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 12:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

About to tip if off here, and two thoughts strike me.

1. Pauley Pavilion and UCLA fans definitely are louder and more into basketball than are USC people who turn out at Galen Center. Maybe 11 national championships does that for you.

2. I have a hunch this isn't going to be close. I don't think O.J. Mayo is going to be able to get much going against Darren Collison and/or Russell Westbrook, and if he doesn't score 20-plus the Trojans generally are in trouble.

Just a hunch:

UCLA 72, USC 60.

With Kevin Love outscoring Mayo, and making a far higher percentage of his shots. Actually, Mayo may take more demonstrably ugly shots than Love will take. At all. Like, 12 awful Mayo shots to 10 field-goal attempts total by Love.

UCLA has a big edge inside, against the foul-prone Taj Gibson and the dopey Davon Jefferson.

Here we go.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Georgia Frontiere, former Rams owner and the woman who took the team to St. Louis so she could 1) make a boatload of cash and 2) find some rubes who would take her seriously as an NFL owner -- and not just the dopey woman who was married to a rich guy when he died and inexplicably left her a team.

I'm writing about her for the Saturday newspapers. A special, bonus column so i can vent my spleen toward the dearly departed. I know we shouldn't be tough on the dead, but she took the NFL team this town used to love and ruined it and moved it.

I can't be nice about the woman who did that.

And I haven't been.

Here is the column that appeared Saturday morning.

Other commentary on her eventful life seems to be mostly positive. Which is possible if you look at her from the St. Louis perspective. But impossible if you take her whole life into consideration, and especially what she did to L.A. and the NFL.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 9:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Bobby Fischer died in Iceland on Thursday at the age of 64. Here at the end of his life, he is hardly remembered. And would be even less-remembered if not for a 1993 movie entitled "Searching for Bobby Fischer," which wasn't really about him ... but was about chess, yes, and brought his name back into our consciousness there for a minute.

Anyway, if you're over a certain age, you probably lost track of Bobby Fischer, but you absolutely remember when he became world chess champion, in 1972.

It was one of the defining moments of the Cold War.

If you are younger than, say, 40, you probably don't remember (or never knew) how pervasive the Cold War was. How it hung over our heads every minute of every day, how it colored every international event, from elections in some Banana Republic to culture, economics, education ... and even sports. Especially sports, really. Including chess.

Te Cold War pitted the Free World, led by the United States, against the Communist world, led by the Soviet Union. And it was the only geopolitical reality Baby Boomers knew, the first three or four decades of their lives. The U.S. and the Soviets, locked into this endless, all-consuming but (thankfully) usually not lethal struggle.

Those of us in the West became quite familiar with Communist prattle about the inevitable victory of their system. The Marxist imperatives, the dialectic "realities" of it all. Perhaps best summed up by future Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev's famous statement to Western ambassadors in 1956, "Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you."

So, into this background of constant conflict across every spectrum of human activity came this chess prodigy from New York, challenging the Soviets in one of their proudest and strongest cultural sinecures -- the chess arena.

Even if he never wanted to be the shining knight of the Free World, that is what Bobby Fischer became when, in 1972, he met Soviet chessmaster Boris Spassky for the world championship in Iceland.

People who barely thought about chess, people who didn't even know the rules, followed the event avidly. It seemed a particularly apt collision of the Cold Way Era because chess encompasses both sports and intelligence, and part of the overarching drum beat of Soviet propaganda was that their side was superior in both arenas.

When Fischer won the 21-match tournament and became world champion, it was deeply satisfying to a vast majority of Americans. Again, if you weren't already 12, 13 years old by 1972, you can't really grasp how important it all was. How grateful Americans were that Bobby Fischer had beaten the Soviets at what they did best.

The Cold War went on another 19 years, until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Something few of us ever really anticipated would happen in our lifetimes.

Bobby Fischer contributed to the Free World victory. I'm sure of that. It would be difficult to demonstrate how, exactly, aside perhaps from his victory validating the notion that the American system of intellectual openness could percolate up a champion in a sport we hardly cared about ... and use his unconventional genius to defeat the Soviet's best.

Imagine "Rocky IV," Rocky Balboa's victory over Soviet world boxing champion Ivan Drago in Moscow ... except this was REAL.

It gave us a kind of hope that the rectitude of the Western Way could stand up to the intellectual monolith of totalitarianism, and that perhaps at some far distant point in history we would somehow "win" the Cold War.

Bobby Fischer will be remembered for that. He didn't really want to be famous, he certainly didn't want to be a political icon. In point of fact, he almost certainly wasn't quite sane (but how many geniuses are?), and the rest of his life was a series of bizarre events pitting a paranoid guy against bureaucracies at home and abroad ... and at the end here he was off the pop-culture radar.

But he was huge, back in 1972. Those of us old enough to remember that time ... will never forget how huge he was.

To read the AP story on his death, click here.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 8:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Ike plays host to unbeaten Redlands on Friday in Round 1 of the Citrus Belt League boys basketball Games of the Year.

The Eagles are 17-2 to Redlands' 18-0, but Ike appears to have played a tougher schedule.

"All four teams we played in the San Diego tournament would compete at the top of our league," Ike coach Steve Johnson said, referring to L.A. Fremont, Clear Brook (Texas), San Marcos Mission Hills and Lakewood Mayfair.

Ike beat all four and won the tournament.

Ike goes eight deep, as does Redlands, and prefers an up-tempo pace, as do the Terriers.

They have similar size, as well. Ike has a 6-8, back-to-the-basket center in David Chavarria; Redlands has 6-8 Reyer Van Mouwerik. Ike has 6-7 forward Kauri Black; Redlands has 6-6 forward Alex Wolpe.

Black is the most heavily recruited of the four big men. "UC Riverside is hot after him," Johnson said. "Washington State has looked at him, Portland. WAC schools. He's got good grades."

Other key players for Ike include guards Del Wilson, Nick Carter and Andrew Bock, a transfer from Carter.

Johnson is in his first full season back as coach at Ike, the program he led to the large-schools CIF title in 2003 -- before he went to Carter as AD.

Said Johnson: "Talent-wise, this team compares well (to his top Ike teams of the previous 15 years). Obviously, back then I'd been coaching for years and things were established.The work ethic has improved as the season has gone on. We're playing pretty good defense now. It's just a matter of the kids putting things together, and the kids responding."

Ike, like Redlands, doesn't have one dominant player; each team has three or four players who average between 12-15 points per game. "When you have several guys who can lead you in scoring they aren't as worried about who is getting points," Johnson said.

Eisenhower enters the game with a 14-game winning streak. Redlands is at 18. Something has to give. But the loser Friday will get a chance at redemption when the teams meet again to conclude Citrus Belt League play.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 5:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Terriers had minimal trouble with crosstown rival Redlands East Valley tonight, rolling to a 69-55 victory before a near-capacity crowd at REV. Reyer Van Mouwerik, a 6-8 senior center, had a career-high 21 points to lead Redlands.

That makes Redlands 18-0 and 6-0 in the Citrus Belt League.

Eisenhower is 17-2 and 6-0.

Eisenhower and Redlands play at Ike on Friday at 6:30 p.m. ... and even though the Terriers are unbeaten it seems fair to suggest the Eagles rate as slight favorites in Friday's matchup.

Why?

Ike has a bit more height. It has played a tougher schedule. It has veteran Steve Johnson back as coach, and he has all five of the starters from last season back -- Kauri Black, Alex Varner, Del Wilson, Naz Richardson and Nick Carer.

Ike also is ranked higher in the maxpreps.com Southern Section overall poll -- No. 9 to Redlands' No. 11.

That isn't to suggest Redlands is a pushover. You don't get to be 18-0 by accident.

The Terriers have no single great player, but they play with cohesion and intelligence and go eight deep with competent high school players.

Redlands coach Brad Scott said his guys aren't getting too fixated on the "unbeaten" thing. "I told them let's just enjoy this while we can," Scott said. "Not too many teams are 18-0 at any level."

Scott likes to say he has "eight starters." Tonight, the five guys from those eight who actually DID start were 6-6 senior Alex Wolpe, guard Tristan Kirk, guard Josh Green, 6-2 junior forward Alex Fultz and 6-3 junior swingman Ricky Peetz.

That's the Terriers' "small" lineup for opponents such as Redlands East Valley, which has minimal height.

Redlands' other "starters" are 6-8 senior center Reyer Van Mouwerik, sophomore guard Matt Green and 6-4 forward Matt Duncan.

"They play so well together," REV coach Bill Berich said of Redlands. "They're unselfish and don't really care who gets the points and the accolades."

Redlands isn't outstanding in any one facet of the game, but it seems solid in most all of them.

Said Berich: "They've got all the pieces. They have guys who can score inside, guys who take care of the basketball, guys who can shoot."

Peetz is the team's best perimeter shooter (40 percent from three-point range), but Kirk and both Greens seem comfortable from the outside, too.

Of the Ike-RHS matchup, Berich said, "It's gonna be a great game. We had trouble with the size of both of them. Eisenhower might be bigger. Redlands might be better shooters. Ike gets into you hard, defensively, and we got some turnovers from Redlands late .., It will be a great game. I'd go see it if we weren't playing.

Redlands likely will need big games from the 6-8 Van Mouwerik and 6-6 Wolpe. The former is a lanky former soccer player with good footwork ("He was a soccer player," Scott said.) and soft hands. He did a nice job catching dish-off passes inside and turning them into layups. Wolpe is bulkier, and more physical.

Ike returns all five starters, and its defeats were to Pasadena and Corona Santiago.

"I've watched a little film of them," Peetz said. "It will be a tough meeting. We don't know if they like to run, but we usually slow it up. We like to control the tempo."

Redlands is playing with the kind of confidence you might expect of an 18-0 team. Said Van Mouwerik: "There's a little bit of pressure but it makes it fun." He isn't surprised his team is 18-0; not when a guy with a college future (like himself) is coming off the bench to score 21. "That shows you what kind of team we have, what we are capable of."

Berich believes Josh Green is the Terriers' best player, but he also likes Kirk. "He's maybe 6-1, not that fast, doesn't shoot great, but he gets big rebounds, makes key shots. He's a tough kid."

Redlands will be playing at another level, when it faces Ike. The Terriers played Dana Hills, and a few other solid teams, but it hasn't faced the competition Eisenhower has seen.

Should be interesting.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ya think?

The disgraced Marion Jones is on "Oprah," today, and the Associated Press story (below) has some excerpts from Jones' conversation.

I suppose she is on the way to trying to be an example of now NOT to go about things ... but she doesn't seem quite willing to accept what she did.

I find interesting her suggestion that "we all make mistakes" (yes, we do, but most of them aren't felonies). As well as her saying she was somehow trying to protect her family by lying. "I made the choice, at that time, to protect myself, to protect my family."

That doesn't strike me as someone really confronting their guilt.

Here is the AP story.

CHICAGO -- Marion Jones said Wednesday that seeing the pain her family and friends endured after she admitted using performance-enhancing drugs outweighed the impact of returning her Olympic medals.

The former Olympic track and field gold medalist appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," her first television interview since being sentenced last week to six months in prison for lying to investigators about steroid use and a check-fraud scam.

"I want people to understand that, you know, everybody makes mistakes. ... I truly think that a person's character is determined by their admission of their mistakes and then beyond that, what do I do about it?" Jones said via satellite from Austin, Texas, where she lives. "How can I change the lives of people? How can I use my story to change the life of a young person?"

Once the most celebrated female athlete in the world, Jones, now 32, won three gold and two bronze medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

After long denying she ever had used performance-enhancing drugs, Jones admitted last October that she lied to federal investigators in November 2003, acknowledging she took the designer steroid "the clear" from September 2000 to July 2001.

"The clear" has been linked to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the lab at the center of the steroids scandal in professional sports.

Winfrey pressed Jones on the repeated, impassioned denials she made over the years. "You knew at that time, you knew were lying, right?" Winfrey said.

"I made a mistake. I made the choice, at that time, to protect myself, to protect my family," Jones said. "And now I've paid the consequences dearly."

Jones said she hasn't told her 4-year-old son yet that she's going to prison. She also has a younger son. She has until March 11 to surrender.

She admitted she was disappointed that she was not given a probation-only sentence, as she and her attorneys had hoped for.

"I put myself in a position to have somebody else determine my immediate future," she said. "I made that decision. I have to live with it, my family has to live with it. With the grace of God we'll get through it and come out even better at the other end."

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Leo "Super Fan" Medina was perhaps the most colorful home-grown, Inland Empire sports fan I had the pleasure to know in my 31 years working for local newspapers.

Sadly, two co-workers at First American Title in Rancho Cucamonga informed me via e-mail that Medina died last Friday.

He was 42 or 43.

He picked up his nickname, Super Fan, because for years he danced to the Isley Brothers tune "Shout" at California League baseball games in San Bernardino. He became part of the show, and anyone who attended a game at Fiscalini Field or Arrowhead Credit Union Stadium from about 1995 till 2003 knew who he was.

He had been struggling with the nasty symptoms of diabetes for the past few years, losing part of one leg and nearly all of his eyesight. Still, he was upbeat and energetic the last time I talked with him, and was looking forward to dancing again, once he regained some of his sight.

The reports from co-workers:

"I do not know if you might have already been contacted about this but our friend Leo Medina passed away last Friday January 11th. He collapsed at the train station in Rancho Cucamonga then was transported to San Antonio Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Just as in your article, he continued to live his life to the fullest until his last day."

"Marina Cisneros
"First American Title Insurance Company"

"Paul:
"It is with sadness that I report to you that Leo "Superfan" Medina died of an apparent heart attack last Friday. I know Leo was the subject of many mentions in your columns for his dedication to the 66ers Baseball Club. Leo was a long time employee of First American Title who was most recently attached to our operations in Rancho Cucamonga. Leo was stricken after work while at the Metro Link station in Rancho Cucamonga trying to come back home to San Bernardino. Thought you might want to give him a "Shout"- out as he did the fans at the games. Leo had been suffering the debilitating effects of diabetes the last several years and we will all miss his witty humor.

"Glenn Jackson"

Here is the link to the last column I did on Leo.

Also, here is funeral/wake info on him, as provided by Marina Cisneros:

Visitation:
Place: Mountain View Cemetery (570 E. Highland Avenue, San Bernardino)
Date: Thursday, January 17
Time: 4-8 p.m.

Funeral:
Place: Our Lady of Guadalupe (1430 W. 5th Street, San Bernardino)
Date: Friday, January 18
Time: 9 a.m.

Burial at Mountain View Cemetery will take place immediately after the service.

Reception will follow after the graveside services.
Place: Arrowhead Credit Union Park, San Bernardino

Leo was a good guy who never complained about the shaky hand nature dealt him. We should all be as brave as he was.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 5:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I had a feeling something like this was going to happen. Things were going too well for the Lakers. Kobe had calmed down, pretty much everyone was healthy (aside from Chris Mihm, oh, and Vlad Radmanovic, but he's so easy to overlook), people described as experts were suggested the Lakers were one of the best teams in the Western Conference ...

And then Andrew Bynum, the biggest (all seven feet of him) reason for the Lakers' jump in competence, crumples to the court with a knee injury.

This could mean major trouble for a team that had, no question, been on the rise.

Bynum was up to 13.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, when he went down. And those numbers were climbing. In his last full game, against Milwaukee, he had 25 points and a career-high 17 rebounds.

And now it turns out he dislocated his knee cap and will be out eight weeks.

The good news is, he apparently doesn't need surgery, and there is no major damage to ligaments or tendons.

The bad news is ... the Lakers are going to have trouble winning very often without their 20-year-old center.

Bynum's ability to take lobs over the top had forced defenses to pack in a little tighter and opened up the perimeter for the Lakers' shooters, and guys like Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar were taking advantage of the wide-open looks.

Now the Lakers are stuck with no-game Kwame Brown as their starting center, and anyone who has watched the former No. 1 pick in the draft play ... knows he has perhaps the worst hands in the league. You don't even TRY passes to him that you would regularly give to Bynum (for dunks, generally) because Kwame won't handle the ball.

What this meant in Game 1 (tonight) without Bynum was a massive Lakers struggle. They played the sad-sack Seattle SuperSonics and won, 123-121 in OT, but it required 48 points on 44 shots form Kobe Bryant, and he probably is just not up to that sort of effort anymore on a regular basis. The man has aged in the past couple of years.

The Lakers are 26-11 now, ahead of last year's pace, when their high-water mark was 26-13 ... but you have to wonder if this might be the peak for this team. The schedule is about to get tough, both in terms of opponents and a monster road trip coming up ... and now the team's Breakout Star is down and Kobe may have to go back to the exhausting business of having to score 30 every night for the club to have a shot to win.

What is a reasonable hope, now? That the Lakers -- who are deeper, yes, than in recent years -- can win almost as many as they lose for the next 10 weeks. While Bynum is out, and then getting back into shape ... and maybe they make a little push at the end and get up to, say, the No. 5 seed in the conference?

That's how big a loss Bynum is, now. A guy the Lakers were asked to package with Lamar Odom for Jermaine O'Neal or Jason Kidd ... improved so rapidly that now his injury could wreck what looked like the club's best team since The Fab Four of 2003-04.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 11:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Eric Weddle is the roiokie safety out of Utah and Alta Loma High School. He doesn't start, but he was involved in a batch of big plays in the Chargers' 28-24 victory over Indianapolis.

The biggest was an interception of a deflected pass at the 2-yard line late in the first half.

The most notorious was a phantom holding call assessed against him that wiped out what should have been an 89-yard interception return for touchdown by Antonio Comartie.

Chargers coach Norv Turner went nuts on that call, and replays seemed to indicate Weddle's contact was legal.

It was such a turn of events, the Chargers trailing10-7 at halftime instead of leading 14-10 ... you thought it could deflate the team. But it didn;t.

Weddle finished with five tackles, and got lots of playing time against the Colts' multi-receiver looks.

He's got to be fired up about this. His parents, too, who were Chargers fans even before the club drafted him in the second round last April.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No way that game turns out like that. No way.

The Chargers don't score 28 points when LaDainian Tomlinson gets hurt in the second quarter and never returns, after eight carries.

The Chargers don't drive 78 yards for the winning touchdown with Billy Volek at quarterback, replacing the injured Philip Rivers.

The Chargers don't keep Peyton Manning and the Colts out of the end zone on two possession in the last four minutes.

But they did. And now San Diego is in the AFC title game next Sunday against the unbeaten New England Patriots. Who will be a handful, but that was the defending NFL champion they just eliminated -- with about three balky knees tied behind their backs.

I've seen enough Chargers games over the past 25 years to know you never expect anything from this franchise. It's as if "mentally fragile" is an official part of the franchise.

Since the 1995 Super Bowl, they had lost four consecutive playoffs games, all of them at home. And last week's victory over the Tennessee Titans seemed like nothing special because, well, the Titans are nothing special.

Then they rise up and defeat the Colts and Peyton Manning? In Indy?

Amazing concept.

I'm writing about it for Monday's newspapers.

I still have trouble getting my mind around this. Chargers win, in Indianapolis. When everyone (San Diegans included) had to be thinking the Colts and the Patriots would be playing for the right to go to the Super Bowl.

Wow.

Could mean the Patriots have no trouble winning the AFC title, against a battered Chargers team. Could mean that. Should mean that. But who knows, now?

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 3:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yeah. Surprised me, too. But at 24-11 they are one game behind the winningest teams in the NBA's Western Conference -- Phoenix and Dallas are 26-11.

That's the good news; the Lakers have a shot at being the No. 1 seed in the West.

But bad news goes right along with it.

The West has 10 (!) teams that are 20-17 or better.

Only eight can get into the playoffs. Which means that two teams off to nice starts, who are on pace to win 47 games or more, are going to see their seasons end in mid-April.

And one of them could be the Lakers, if they hiccup at some stretch here.

The West is just clotted, at the top.

Here are the top 10.

Phoenix (26-11), Dallas (26-11), Lakers (24-11), San Antonio (24-11), New Orleans (24-12), Denver (22-13), Portland (22-13), Golden State (21-16), Utah (21-17), Houston (20-17).

So, the Lakers can't be congratulating themselves for being within a game of the lead ... because they are only five games from being 10th.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In so many crucial ways, things could hardly be worse for the San Diego Chargers in their ongoing game at Indianapolis.

LaDainian Tomlinson left the game with a leg injury in the second quarter and hasn't come back.

Antonio Gates has played sparingly (sprained tow) and now appears done.

Nate Kaeding saw a makable field goal kick hit the upright and bounce away.

And the officiating crew seems to be making a stream of major calls that are going against the Chargers, led by the phantom holding call on Eric Weddell on what should have been an 89-yard interception return for touchdown just before half.

So many things have gone wrong ... you would expect the Chargers to be in utter collapse.

In point of fact, they are not. Darren Sproles just took a screen pass in for a touchdown, and the Chargers lead 21-17 at the end of the third quarter.

And just as the quarter ended, quarterback Philip Rivers limped off the field, dragging the leg behind him on which he wears a huge knee brace.

I'm a bit torn about all this. I'd like to see the Chargers win because they're showing such grit in the face of adversity.

But I would like to see the Colts win because I believe they are the only team in the NFL with a chance to stop the Patriots, in the AFC title game next week.

Anyway, win or lose, the Chargers are showing heart of the sort I didn't know they had.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, no, USC isn't going to go winless in the Pac-10. The Trojans pulled away from Washington to win 66-51 at the Galen Center this afternoon.

It was a little shaky there, for a bit. Washingon led 43-42, and it looked like the undermanned Huskies might get a Pac-10 victory before the overrated Trojans did.

But USC went on a 14-0 run, and that settled things.

It was desperation time, yeah, for USC. "I couldn't imagine going 0-4 and playing UCLA at their place," said Daniel Hackett, referring to the Trojans' next game, at Pauley Pavilion next Saturday.

Said center Taj Gibson: "We had to win this game ... because it's home. We already gave up one home loss. We didn't want to give two and home and go 0-4."

O.J. Mayo was 0-for-6 from the field in the first half but rallied to finish with 15 points on 4-of-13 shooting, which is about par for him.

He got a little banged up, catching an elbow in the head in the early minutes and then landing hard on his hip in the second half.

"It feels better because we got a win," he said. "I'll be ready for practice Monday."

USC is 10-6 overall. Washington is 1-2 and 9-7.

The Trojans aren't out of NCAA Tournament consideration, but they do need to pick up the pace. Figure they need to go 10-8 in the Pac-10, and that means winning nine of their last 13 conference games -- assuming they lose to UCLA next Saturday.

I'm not sure this team can do that. It could be a nip-and-tuck kind of thing, the Trojans making the NCAAs in Mayo's one and only season here.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 6:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kevin Love scored 27 points and Darren Collison added 18 as UCLA built a big early lead and then withstood seven three-pointers in the final minutes to defeat Washington State, 81-74.

First defeat for the Cougars in 15 games, and UCLA's smothering early defense looked like it would be more than enough to decide the game ... but the Cougars made that hail of threes to close to 74-71 with 13 seconds left.

Love hit a couple of free throws one second later, and that was that.

Love played what UCLA coach Ben Howland called his best game, and the kid did fill up the stat sheet.

He was 9-for-12 from the field, 2-of-3 from three-point range, 7-of-10 from the line, with four offensive boards, 10 defensive (14 total), four assists against one turnover and two blocks.

Oh, he didn't have a steal. Back to work, young man.

Collison played despite a painful hip contusion, and made 5-of-8 shots and was 8-of-9 at the line. "Had to gut this one out," said the junior out of Etiwanda High School.

UCLA is now 4-0 in the Pac-10, 16-1 overall, and in charge of the Pac-10 race until further notice. Or until someone beats them. Maybe somebody like Washington State in their return engagement, in Pullman, on Feb. 7.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 3:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UCLA had new football coach Rick Neuheisel speak at halftime in what we can only describe as the ongoing attempt to rehabilitate his image, which is sketchy, at best.

He stook in the middle of the basketball court and talked about how it seemed like just the other day that he sat in the stands as a UCLA student and watched Larry Brown's team make the 1980 NCAA title game.

He talked about the pleasure of being a Bruin, and how happy he is to be back, blah, blah, blah.

Actually, he sounded like a candidate for president, breaking into his stump speech. Reminding UCLA people of good stuff, trying to drive down the "negatives" associated with him. The messes he left behind at Colorado and Washington, for example.

He talked about UCLA's "First to 100" national championships campaign. Patting the school on the back, etc. He mentioned how he was on the UCLA teams that played in the 1983 and 1984 Rose Bowl.

Said Neuheisel: "I’ve been given a chance to be football coach, and I want you to know our goal is to be part of the next 100 national championships.

"I’ve come back with a little less hair, a little more humility but the same passion and drive to take the Bruins to the top.

"Thank you, thank you, for letting me come home! Go Bruins!"

Yeah. Well, he will be judged on victories and defeats ... and how successful he is at keeping UCLA out of trouble with the NCAA.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UCLA has played great defense for a half, but Washington State is still hanging around because the Bruins haven't exactly lit it up on offense, either.

Which is pretty much what we expected.

WSU didn't have a field goal until the 11:23 mark, on its 13th trip upcourt, when Taylor Rochestie scored to make it 16-6. And at half, the Courgars have more turnovers (nine) than field goals (eight).

UCLA's best players have been Kevin Love, who has 11 points and eight rebounds ... and backup guard Russell Westbrook, the Bruins' breakout player of the year. Westbrook has `10 points, four assists and three steals -- and only one turnover.

But this is by no means over. Washington State got a flurry of points just before half, including a buzzer-beater three, and a 12-point lead against the nation's fourth-ranked team ... unbeaten, remember ... isn't enough to assume you've got things locked up.

The biggest difference between the teams so far: UCLA has go-to scorers -- Love inside, Westbrook penetrating, Shipp from the perimeter -- and Washington State doesn't appear to.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UCLA is about to play Washington State, teams ranked Nos. 5 and 4 in the country.

I'm looking forward to this game because we've got two coaches in complete control of their teams, and I appreciate that. You don't always see that, in D1 college basketball.

This is one of the biggest Pac-10 games in years. Teams ranked that high. With one defeat (UCLA's) between them.

This is going to be low-scoring, grinding, defense-oriented game.

Fans may be bored (though Pauley is packed) ... but coaches and hoops aficiandos will love it. Nothing will come easy, nothing will come cheap. It will be intelligent basketball. And I never tire of that.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Christopher Bowman ... remember him? Skating star? Sometimes known (by his own admission) as "Bowman the Showman" but also "Hans Brinker from Hell"? The big-jumping, flamboyant party animal who was fourth in the men's skating competition at the Albertville Olympics in 1992?

He was found dead Thursday in a Budget Inn in North Hills, in the San Fernando Valley. He was 40. His death is being investigated as a possible drug overdose.

Anyway, another sports casualty. Too much, too young, too narrowly focused, probably unprepared to deal with real life. It's a common theme in the sports world, and particularly in the claustrophobic ice-skater universe.

Bowman didn't much like to practice, and struggled with the rigors of the figure-skating existence. Frank Carroll, the former Ice Castle International resident coach (best known for coaching Michelle Kwan), dumped Bowman as a pupil ... when Bowman improvised most of his free-skate program at the 1990 world championships. Which is so far out of the box you can't even see if from there.

Bowman won the U.S. national championship twice, and was a leading medal contender at the Albertville Games. But he didn't get it done, and he finished fourth, behind Victor Petrenko, who won, and fellow American Paul Wylie, a gutty little guy from Harvard who got a silver (and all the attention from American media for the rest of the Games).

I did a story on Feb. 7, 1992, before the skate competition, out of a Bowman interview session in Albertville in which he was amusing and goofy, as he often was. I mean, he was a party-hearty kind of guy, by his own admission. And the demons he so often confronted (he already had done drug rehab, in 1988) weren't quite so obvious.

Asked how he would like to be remembered, 10 years hence, he said, "He loved his sport and he did it a long time ... and if it isn't Mexico and it isn't new, why is it called New Mexico?"

He was capable of great flair, and was more athletic and less precious than many of his contemporaries. Fans tended to pay special attention when he was on the ice. But he was dependably erratic, and that meant he rarely could put together a clean short and long program -- and a high finish.

Some of the other things he said, back in 1992:

"I'm an emotional person. In the rink, that makes me an emotional skater. But I'm a human being first and a skater/athlete second.

"Sometimes, athletes at this level lose sight of that and I find that to be terribly sad."

And in perhaps the spookiest part of the story, he added, "I don't want to end up burned out, belly up in the bathroom ..."

I ended the story with one more sentence from "Hans Brinker from Hell" -- "If I can go out and have one person in the stands say, 'That guy was special,' that's enough for me."

Well, he was special. A guy who never lived up to his potential but left a mark on the sport anyway.

The AP news story on Bowman's death can be found here.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Marion Jones was sentenced this morning to six months in prison for lying about using steroids and for involvement in a check-fraud scheme.

And now the destruction of a sports icon is complete.

Jones herself, of course, is primarily responsible for her own demise. She did the BALCO 'roids, and then lied about it ... and whatever that check mess was about. Well, stealing, basically.

Jones remains a pitiable figure, however. Almost sympathetic, because the revelations seem to paint her as a weak-minded, not-very-bright athlete repeatedly manipulated by more powerful personalities in her life. Coaches, and the men she lived with.

Maybe allowing us to draw that picture was part of her defense ... maybe crying on the courthouse steps in October was calculated to elicit sympathy ... but I don't think so. I think this is a woman who has seen her world melt down, and now has two young sons and no money..

Gosh, remember how big a star Marion Jones was, seven years ago? The five medals at the Sydney Olympics? She aimed for an unprecedented five gold, and got three. She was one of the top half-dozen sports figures in the country, and maybe in the world.

In my mind's eye I have an image of her blasting down the 100-meter course, coming right at me as I sat in the press area on the first turn of the Sydney Olympic Stadium. She ran 10.75 ... and won by a huge distance. It seemed like 10 yards, though it had to be closer than that ...

(Actually, it WAS a blowout. Check the video here. And, now that we take another look at her, circa 2000, she IS kind of huge. Not Florence Griffith-Joyner huge, but big. Yes, suspiciously big, especially her upper body. That's a football-player's neck, too.)

She was so likable, too. Sunny, upbeat. And even when she was trashing the rest of the world competition, she was never arrogant or boastful. She went to the trouble of being outwardly modest, which is beyond most modern athletes. Proximity to her only made a person more inclined to like her. As opposed to most sports superstars ... who wear on a person in a hurry.

We all wanted to like her, and most of us did. Which is why she did so many commercials, before and after Sydney.

And now she goes to jail, a broken woman, 32, mother of two, her reputation destroyed, her Olympic medals returned to the IOC. A convicted felon. (I wonder if this gave Barry Bonds pause, this morning.)

Maybe there is some redemption out the back end of this ... presumably she has decades still to live and work. And maybe the can accomplish something positive.

We'd like to think of her life as a cautionary tale ... but who pays attention to cautionary tales? Just about nobody. Certainly just about nobody who aspires to Olympic gold.

Man, that's a tumble. One of the all-timers. The sort that can only come with a very very high ascent.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dean Lombardi is president/general manager of the Los Angeles Kings. This is his second season in that job, taking over for Dave Taylor.

I talked to him Tuesday night just before the Kings' game with the Nashville Predators, a game the Kings would lose, 7-0.

The conversation took place in a little lounge area next to the Kings locker room. Lombardi sat in a chair in the corner, and I was on the leather couch along the wall. Across the way was a television tuned to a sports station; the sound was muted.

When we entered the room, he said, "OK, what do you need?" In a weary way, as if I were going to ask him for money, perhaps.

I asked only a handful of questions because Lombardi answered at great length, sometimes circling back on the points he was trying to make, sometimes losing me. I just let him go, rarely interrupting him ... and if I hadn't once or twice, he might have gone on without me asking anything else.

He seemed tired and a bit downcast, and if you go on and read his comments you'll see that he has half-formed thoughts that the listener/reader can understand only through context (and, sometimes, guesswork). But that could have been a function of his recent return from Europe, where he attended the world juniors tournament.

Anyway, if you are really into this ... here's the transcript of our conversation. Just because we have the space.

But I will tell you ... this took a huge effort to transcribe.

How would you assess the team's progress, in your second year?

Lombardi: "I think we didn't think we'd be this far out right now, as far as what we expected. I felt we were probably around .500 this time of year and then hopefully some of the young players would continue to get better and you'd have a little upside on your team and, you know, challenge for a spot; .500 wouldn't get you in right now but it would certainly put you in the fight.

"We're pretty much on that pace. You try to look at your team and see where you are as far as where you are on the ice. You know, we got back from Europe, we had that 1-4 start which put us in a hole. After that, that stretch there we were 10-10-2 and that's where I thought we were, 'OK, let's stabilize, you know, it's probably where we're at.' And then we hit that stretch where we went (whistles) right into the tank there for eight games, and that combined with the start kind of put us in no-man's-land.

"So that part, the positives I guess to that, and overall in the building, is (Dustin) Brown ... most of the young players, the key ones, Brown certainly has taken his game to another level. (Anze) Kopitar hasn't had the falloff a lot of guys ... young players when they have success like Kopie did last year it's not unusual for them to come back the next year with, what do you call it, the sophomore slump or big head, whatever, But that hasn't been the case at all. In some cases, for his age, he probably has too much on his plate but he's handled it extremely well. (Jack) Johnson is on a pace, I think he's on the right path. He hasn't done the offense; we haven't asked him to. That will come eventually with more experience.

"(Patrick) O'Sullivan is probably our most improved player. He's still got a ways to go. but anybody who's watched him last year and seen him this year, he's clearly become better. Then (Michael) Cammalleri and (Alexander) Frolov, they're not exactly young anymore but they're kind of considered within that. When Cammalleri was leading the league in goal-scoring and then he found out, like I told him, that once you're up there people are going to start knowing who you are and play you different, and that's a little surprising. I think he faced that for the first time and then had a little lull there. That's all part of the growth process, that now he's expected to score, and then he got hurt.

"So from that perspective that's the fairly positive. Unfortunately, one of the things in coming here and I've said this time and again, when we started here, we're not a young team. You talk about an oganization, I always say there's five ingredients -- the NHL team, the minor-league team, the pro scouting, the amateur scouting, development. There'e five sectors. When I came in here, I've got my own belief in how things should be done. In terms of the other sectors, I think we've made a lot of progress in the amateur scouting and development but we still have a lot of work to do. i just got back from two weeks in Europe and it's a combination of watching our own young players as well as making sure the staff's doing the right thing, that i want things done a certain way, things going on behind the scenes that I am happy with, but we have to get better. But as far as the big club up here right now ...

"That's kind of what's different. When I built it in San Jose, there was still kind of an expansion team so you could put your team in place and stick with it. The fans would still get frustrated but they were with a team that hadn't been around a long time and people still understood there was a growth process.

"This is entirely different. It's one of the challenges I knew I was going to face in coming here. You've got a 40-year history of no Cup. You've got, in the last 15 years, four playoff appearance, which is lowest in the league. You've got one playoff round won in the last 15 years, which is the lowest in the league. And you've got a fan base, which I noticed as a pro scout, is very passionate. And what can you say to them? They've paid their dues. It's unfortunate because you've got teams like Dallas and Denver that have won Stanley Cups. In Denver, the pain of growing came in Quebec. In Dallas, the pain came in Minnesota. Those were two cities that got hockey clubs that already had done the hard work someplace else.

"I also believe there's a certain way of doing things, and this is kind of where I learned it, when I first took over, i learned a lot from a guy like Lou Lamoriello. There is a certain way to do things, whether you're a trainer, or a scout or a secretary, you do things right. And there are certain ways it has to be done. I've always followed that, and I have my own belief in how scouting should be done, the way technology should be used, the way your staff should be disseminated about the country, how you run your meetings, the way you challenge your people. So I guess you could say everybody can say the same ... regardless of developing young players, the draft, you have to build it yourself, and that's a hard thing to do. But it still is the crux of the matter

"Now, why is that? I've got my own theories on that. It can be a crap shoot but you've got to lessen your odds. You're going to make mistakes, but you're not going to make mistakes from a lack of effort or lack of thinking. This is the first year ... You say second year, but this is the first year I've got my staff with the people I want. I completely rebuilt the amateur staff, the way we use technology, the pro staff, and this takes time and again, great organizations are the ones that have been together a long time and they do things a certain way. The same with Philadelphia, where I was worked for Bobby Clarke those three years. You learn a lot. Those principles hold. There's a reason why those franchises have had great success.

"The other thing too, as a practical matter, I just don't believe there's another way. Building a team, we're at the stage where we have to build a reserve list. A reserve list is your cards. A reserve list gives you the cards to play to make deals and that's what the fans want to see. All they think a general manager does is make trades or sign free agents. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

"As a practical matter ... we were active this summer in the free agency and everyone was all excited, but this to me, when you're this active, you've got holes. Free agency should be used once your core is together and you add a player to your core, who fits in the core you've built, or you're getting that role player that fills a critical role that you just haven't been able to get to in the draft or via trade. That's one sign you've got a lot of holes in your reserve list. You've got to go get six free agents to fill some holes. I remember in the summer people saying this is great, but it's not a good sign."

Assess the performances of your free agents.

"(Brad) Stuart's been pretty good. When you get guys where you expect them to be, you get what you expected ... Stuart I think has met expectations. (Michal) Handzus has not. He'd be the first to tell you he's not played up to his capability. The one thing about Zus, we do know his character. His problem is, like, the the worst thing you can get is a guy who gets a contract and doesn't care or thinks he's all set. Zus can go the other way. He actually is harder on himself and beats himself up. I know he cares. He'd be the first to tell you that he hasn't done what he's capable of. Part of it is he got off to a slow start, the knee injury, and he got himself in a rut, and he starts coming out of it and then ... so he hasn't been up to his expectations.

"(Ladislav) Nagy has started to execute, he's been pretty much what we expected, after a slow start. He's been pretty good the last month. Same probably with (Tom) Preissing. He's probably playing to expectations. Kyle (Calder) was playing pretty well until injuries, but now he's just been OK. But that's what they are. The other thing, too, we weren't getting a (Scott) Gomez or an impact guy. It was the kind of thing, I don't think it's the time right now. I'd like to get that impact guy when you've got your core together. So of the five guys, a couple have met expectations, Zus has been below, the others have been behind expectations.

Are you committed to leaving goaltender Jonathan Bernier in juniors this year? He's not coming back to Los Angeles?

"He can't, under the rules. Once he goes back to juniors, he can't play. That's why you get that whole circus there at the 10-game mark because once you make the decision, it's final. It probably wouldn't have been such an issue in October to get back, but it;'s a crazy quirk in the rules. Once he's sent back, you can't get him back.

"And I'm totally fine with that. This is another thing you do when you talk about a plan. You can't just put kids on the rink to show fans you're getting younger. This is one thing we did at San Jose which is very hard to do, but we got better six years in a row, and we got younger every year. We did it when the kids were ready. If you do it the other way ... you just put kids out there and they're not ready, you tell fans you're young and everything, but they're not ready, they're not going to succeed and you have to end up trading them.

"So Bernier's case, it's also an issue of 'Is Bernier really ready or is he the best of a not-very-good lot?' And that's not good for the kid.

"The other thing that's interesting in this organization, in 40 years it hasn't developed its own goalie. Even Rogie (Vachon) wasn't their own goalie. They got him from Montreal. So this is the most critical position on the rink, we still haven't developed our own goalie. So I'm looking at this and, 'Hey, i better not mess this up.' There's still no guarantee he's going to make it. He has a lot of potential, but potential not used properly in the long run is not going to reach it. So he should have gone back. The world junior championships were a good experience for him."

In your second season here, what sort of progression did you hope for?

"One of the things you can look at for progression ... there's selling the coaches, getting them stabilized, get that foundation in place. We have to establish, we're still in the process of establishing, what we want to be, how we want to play. A lot of teams go through this anyway with the new rules and that's still being defined. But, uh, i don't know how to describe this but, it's like putting together a puzzle but not all the pieces are ready when you'd like them to be ready.

"When your team is younger, they have to learn how to win. that's a delicate thing to do, what we did in San Jose, and to get that in place. And also when you've done that much losing in 15 years, you have to be real careful, because what you have here, when you lose that often, it's a culture. There's a reason Detroit can keep up. ... There's a reason those organizations win -- it's the whole package. We have to at some point put this in place and I think it's only going to come ... it's going to have to start at the grass-roots level and Kopitar and Johnson and Brown and these kids coming through.

"It's really hard to put definitive time lines on it. Some things go forward but some don't ...

"Another thing people don't understand with the Kings, my second year, I had to change my scouting staff halfway through last year. We will be ready this year. When we have my meetings next week we will be where we were at the end of last year. Last year (in the draft) was really tough. We had to go half a year with those guys and ask them for two players out of the draft and we'll hold the fort. But the next one, we have to start hitting.

"I'm starting to feel good about what I'm seeing in the off-ice people, the 40 guys in the trenches who win the end are going to be critical."

Do you feel criticism from the outside?

"I was the youngest general manager in the league, and I was exposed to some really bright guys ... and you learn that if you start to respond to that, you're going to fail. One guy said to me, 'Look, vision is being able to see what other people can't. And so if you have a plan, it requires vision, you're going to get fried if you have that plan, and if it bothers you, don't take the job. ... That's an occupational hazard. If it's going to effect you ... don't take the job. Be prepared to get fired at some point.

"It wasn't easy the first time I did it in San Jose. So now there is that direct experience of knowing it does work, so it does help a little to stay focused. And like I said to the staff, 'You're responsible for seeing those 40 people, the scouts and front-office people. ... They need to see you standing strong, and it's a battle every day. ..."

Are you suggesting this franchise has never done things right, top to bottom? Never developed the organization thoroughly, to last?

"I've just got my own way. Is it better or worse? It's different. By doing that you're criticizing someone else.

"I was a little surprised at the (Kings performances over the last) 15 years. That's been ... That was right after Wayne's year. I'm a big fan of that, coming from New England, and the Flyers and Roenick and all that, and working for Philly for my childhood idol (Clarke), and you just walk around Philadelphia ... the main thing, there's something there, you can't define it. So obviously there, a huge track record of success there, and they lit the fire and pass on the torch.

"When I was looking at the teams that I was interested in going to, and interviewing (with the Kings), it was a negative early because I like those traditional things, but Wayne Gretzky told me, if you win there, there's nothing better in the world ... so there's positives and negatives. Wayne tried to do it as a player, and you know what, in the big picture too, I think the league needs L.A. Let's face it, the NBA was built on the Celtics-Lakers, and if you can ever get a L.A.-Gretzky show ... hockey as a whole was big ...

"It's a huge challenge. So let's establish history instead of following history."

What do you tell fans? That they need to be patient-- still?

"I get to talk to them in February, at my GM town meeting. We haven't set the date yet. ... It's funny, I get e-mails, and they say this and this and this, and I say, 'This is where we're at.' A lot of times you throw the options out to them and it hits them ...

"For some people, the 30 years of frustration, maybe I deserve to let them get up and vent. That's the least we can give them at this point."

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Pete Carroll will talk to the Atlanta Falcons' owner today about their vacant coaching job. Reportedly.

Had to wonder when the NFL would get around to Pete. Or at least the rumor millworkers would.

Here's the thing about Pete:

If he's dumb enough to go to the NFL, well, don't let the door on the dream college job slap you on the backside.

Let's give Pete the benefit of a doubt and say he talks with NFL guys Arthur Blank and (last year) Wayne Huizenga because he likes the ego stroke. He's not REALLY going to go. Just seeing what he's worth on the NFL market, these days.

The reality is ... the NFL is a coach-killer. You're gonna go out feet first. Just a question of when. You can win a Super Bowl, and a couple of 5-11s later you're on the street, like Brian Billick.

Even somebody like Bill Belichick, Super Genius of the Moment ... is going to get stupid some day and be fired.

Pete wants to go THERE? Especially after he's already been fired -- twice?

And he would be giving up USC, where he enters season after season KNOWING he has better talent than everybody else. Unlike the NFL, which distributes wealth with Marxist ruthlessness.

He would be giving up demi-god status, here in L.A. People fall all over themselves worshiping at his feet. (If you have the time, check this absolutely fawning piece on him by a non-sports guy. It's a link to a link, which is the best way I could find it.) Maybe once or twice a year a handful of people second-guess him, but the rest of the time he's untouchable, unquestioned.

And, at USC, football is king. It's not as if somebody is going to come in and de-emphasize the sport. It's not as if basketball ever will be bigger. It's not as if the alumni ever will get tired of going to football games. The football program will always get pretty much everything it wants.

If a guy is going to give up a Job for Life that pays him something like $2 million to go back to the NFL ... well, he's just stupid. I could understand if he'd never been, but he has, and it's the same league he knew back then.

I never have thought Pete Carroll is a stupid guy. That's why I expect him to stay at Troy.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm writing about the Los Angeles Kings for the Wednesday newspapers.

"Why," you ask?

Fair question. Nothing much else pressing going on. And, also, it's not as if I beat these guys to death. I haven't seen a Kings game since ... 2002? Yeah, the last time they made the playoffs.

Anyway, I picked a particularly bad night to see a bad team.

The Kings entered the game with the worst record in the league ... and then they gave up three goals in the first seven minutes of the game to the Nashville Predators. Who were handled in Anaheim last night by the Ducks.

It finished Nashville 7-0. Yeah. Ack.

The fans are not happy. The ones who are here.

I'd guess there are at least 4,000 empty seats in Staples, which holds 18,000 for hockey.

The Kings have about six good players, and then it's a disaster.

During the day (before the 7-0 skunking, that is), I talked to the team's general manager, Dean Lombardi, its coach, Marc Crawford, captain Rob Blake and assistant captain Michael Cammalleri. I have scads of info, and only a fraction of it gets into the newspaper.

So ... I'm going to print the entire transcribed remarks of Crawford, Blake and Cammalleri right here. Because I can. It's the web, and space is limitless, right?

Anyway, Kings down 5-0 after two periods. Geez.

The guys talking. Warning: It goes on for a LONG time. Better be a serious pucks fan.

Coach Marc CRAWFORD:

"We’re not satisfied with where we’re at. Elements of our game we’re very pleased with. We’re very pleased with the offensive production of our young forwards. I ‘d have to say we’re very pleased with our defense in most areas. The displeasure with our team has been the scoring at the bottom end of our lineup, and the play at the bottom end of the lineup, and our defensive play. So we can’t fool anybody, we’re not anywhere near where we need to be a good team in both those areas.

"How do you win games when you’re a team like us that isn’t overwhelmingly blessed with superstar players? Then you have to have depth of talent. We’ve got a great group of forwards at the top of our lineup, most of them under the age of 25 – O’Sullivan, Cammalleri, Frolov, Brown and Kopitar who all are top, top players who are having sensational years. Brown is having a career year, O’Sullivan is having a career year. We’re very pleased with those guys. And you go past that, we haven’t gotten a contribution from the other people, though (Ladislav) Nagy is starting a little bit now after a slower start. We haven’t got enough contribution from those other people in all the areas, whether it’s been hitting, robust play, certainly stymieing the opposition, which oftentimes a third line and a fourth line do. So they’re usually there to provide energy, they’re there to be defensive stalwarts for you. And, no, we’re not pleased with that. I’d be lying to anybody if I said we were.

"Our defense as a whole, I think, has played very well. It hasn’t shown in our defensive numbers. When you look at defensive play, what haven’t we been pleased with? We’ve given up far too many goals against. I’m pleased with our defensemen. What do we look at from defensemen? Positional play, their attentiveness to play within a system, the structure they play with, it’s all been pretty good. In my opinion, where we have missed is, we have trust issues on our team. And what happens is when you get guys with lots of character who don’t trust the way that you’re playing because they’re seeing goals go in, they go a foot or two outside the zone, they try to do a little too much. And again, how does that get solved? Well, results solve it. Being good on the penalty kill night after night after night. Being good in your defensive zone night after night after night. Seeing success from limiting chances allows you to have more trust.

"Offensively, the defense is, I think we’re No.7 in the league in scoring from the defense. So, on a team you wouldn’t look at and say, boy these guys aren’t a juggernaut offensively, we’ve got good production from our defensive corps, and it’s a good group. I think Rob Blake is having a sensational year. (Lubomir) Viznovsky is starting to play much better from Christmas on. As soon as he started to score you could see him really loosen up in his play. And we’ve had some injury woes on the defense that maybe have played a bigger part of our game that we have to pick up the defensive play, the goaltending’s got to pick up, the penalty killing, and those are all derivatives of the issues of getting saves at key times, because you’re never going to play perfectly in a defensive posture no matter what sport you’re talking about. You’re gonna make the mistakes, they are part of the game. We want to limit them. And when you do make mistakes, you’re going to need to be bailed out every now and then.

"So that’s where we’ve put our focus on, trying to limit and play as stifling a game, and have the defensive habits and try and build the trust into our game that’s going to be necessary for this team to progress.
Where are we in terms of satisfaction in the two years I’ve been here? We’re nowhere near where we need to be. And we know that moving forward we have to stay the course, and stay on the issues we know we can control, that we know we can take care of.

"Our effort? We had an eight-game losing streak. Six of the games we lost by one goal. Then we win three games and we won them all handily. And then we lose two games that probably we should have won. So if you just looked at the structure of our game in the last 13 games in which we only won three, we lost eight one-goal games. Of those eight one-goal games, I would say very liberally we could say that we should have won five. Our problem is you can’t make excuses, you have to find ways to win those five, and that’s the process we’re in right now.

"There’s been only one or two games, the Detroit game earlier this year, and maybe one other, that I’ve been displeased with the effort of our team. The composure, the structure that we played with, yeah, those are other issues. Those are issues that we continually gotta keep working on, that we continually try and improve upon. I’m a big believer in process. I haven’t had too many games where I’ve come out and said, boy, that effort was just absolutely superior and don’t worry, those types of games will turn into wins. But we’ve had a number of them. And there hasn’t been other than one or two, maybe, games where I’ve looked and said, 'Geez, our effort has been really poor.' So effort hasn’t been an issue. It’s been more in the area of composure and staying within structure and trusting issues on our team that need to continue to be improved upon."

Do you understand fans might be frustrated?

"Absolutely. I think the one thing I’ve found in my year and half here now, there are so many loyal fans who are just waiting for this team to emerge. I believe they see signs in the emergence of some of the young players. So they see hope. Unfortunately, hope is hard to sell. And especially for an organization whereby they haven’t seen results. Let’s face it, people want to see playoffs and our goal this year was to be in the playoffs. Obviously, we’re at the bottom of the league and we’re not looking as if we’ve given them a lot of hope. At the same time, I also think there’s aspects of our team where we’re a lot closer than our record indicates. We’re a lot closer than, in my professional opinion, being around as long as I have been, to being a team that’s going to make their fans have something to cheer about and have something to sink their teeth into. Again, we’ve preached patience. I realize that patience is thin, as well. I also believe that there is only one way to do this, and that’s the right way and that’s to develop people the right way and to try and keep people on course in terms of the habits that you need to be a successful team."

Your goaltending. Lack of results because of competence or inexperience?

"I think in Jason’s case (LaBarbara) it’s a little bit of learning issue. He’s a relative novice at the NHL level. And carrying a load that he’s carrying this year and dealing with the injury he’s dealt with this year those are new experiences for him. So there is some learning there for him. I think our players all respect that he’s worked real hard and that he’s a good person and a guy who is showing signs of being able to carry a load for an NHL team. I do think that he needs some help. J.S. (Aubin) has been around a little bit more. He’s had trouble putting a string of games together. And the opportunities he’s had, he has been inconsistent.
I talked to another scout just after new year’s and he said he’s the best goaltender not in the NHL right now. That’s a pretty good compliment. So there is reason for optimism in the Kings goaltending picture. ... "

Why isn't Bernier here now?

"It’s age. It’s a question better posed for Dean (GM Dean Lombardi), but I know what Dean thinks. Dean thinks, 'Hey, we’ve got this great prospect . Let’s make sure we develop him the right way. We know we’ve got gold there, so let’s do it the right way.' We wanted him to have the world junior experience, we wanted him to have the ability to play a great year at the major junior level, where so many of the great goalies have done their time. And at the end of the season he’ll probably get the opportunity to play for our farm club, if his season is over soon enough. A lot of (great) goaltenders all kind of came up the same way, and they didn’t skip steps along the way. And I think our organization was very leery of having him skip a step, especially given the fact that we finally have a great prospect, let’s do things the right way. But it’s tough because the overriding thought is, get the best player in here right now, and I’m sure our fans feel a little bit of that, too. But Dean’s gotta make those tough, hard decisions and I personally think it’s the right one.

Defensieman ROB BLAKE:

On playing with the Kings when they were popular, and now, in his second year back.

"hat’s a big change because there was a lot of player movement both years, management, training staff, everything. Pretty much start over other than some of the players that were left. It takes time. Assessment of it? It’s not up to us to deal with it; it’s management’s job.

"At the time I was here, was right after Wayne Gretzky got here, and that was the height of the media with the Kings, and then I came back after they had missed the playoffs for three or four years in a row, so they’re probably at the low end of it. The good part about it is that some of the star players they have to build around, in Kopitar, Brown, Cammalleri, Frolov and Johnson, that’s a great nucleus that you can build around and you can market, too. Those kids are smart kids and can grow in the L.A. market.

Frustrated fans?

"They’ve been here 30 years and been to the Stanley Cup once, the finals once. Anaheim has won it the past season and we haven’t been in the playoffs for four or five years. And we’ve been out of the second round once, since the franchise started? Right? So over the course of the franchise history, there should be frustration.

"We’ve got a strong fan base. They’re here every year and they’re excited every year but they want to see something, and I think it’s up to management and players to give them that. To get back in the playoffs and give them a glimpse of that hope. Once you get in there, and the way things are structured now, post lockout, you know, once you’re in the playoffs, anything can happen. The goal is to get in there, and that’s what we’re failing at now.

At 38, how much longer will you play?

"I play kind of year by year now. I don’t think I would ever go any longer than that. You get a feel for it in the summer. There’s so many teams during the season you get different thoughts both ways, but when you clear your head in the summer and you come back, that’s when decisions will be made.

"If you’re not totally committed to preparing the way you have in the past ... and (Ducks stars) Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne have had great careers, and they know what it takes to get back. If you don’t have that it would be hard to come back and play. Scott obviously felt it and it looks like Teemu is going through that right now."

Center Michael Cammalleri

On the newest rebuilding phase:

"You don’t want to feel like your rebuilding. You want to feel like any year you can come out and be a contender. You look at Anaheim, and 2 1/2 years ago they were in last place in our division. And I remember those days when they were struggling to get a win. And two years later they won a Stanley Cup.
I’ve been here awhile. I’m pretty aware of where we stand as L.A. people, and where they did at one time, and it’s not ... I personally love the history of the game, and I hear the stories. I used to try to buddy up to Luc Robitaille, he’s a good friend of mine, and yet to this day I always try to get stories out of him about the glory days of the Los Angeles Kings. Obviously when Wayne was here and they were here and Blakey and Marty (McSorley) and this list goes on, Kelly (Hrudy) and that. They had great teams. I got a full sense of it growing up in Toronto, I was a huge Leaf fan as a fan, and sure enough, I cried when Gretzky got that hat trick to beat the Leafs in the playoffs (in the '93 Western Conference finals).

"So that’s how big the L.A. Kings were at one time. They were a big deal in the city of Los Angeles. The thing to do was go to the game at the Forum and try to get into the Forum club after the game, and it was full of Hollywood lights, celebrites, actors, producers, actresses, other professional athletes whatever it may be, kind of what the Lakers have right now, obviously on a smaller scale, but not a whole lot, right? It was the place to be, right?

"It kind of was the identity of L.A. for a while. It was the Kobe-Shaq Era of the Lakers. How exciting is that it for a professional athlete to be part of that? It’s a dream come true. You work your whole life to get to this level and you don’t dream about getting here and being in last place. You dream about getting here and falling down in your basement and scoring the goal that won the Stanley Cup and stuff like that. That’s how dreams come true, when you become that atmosphere. The city of Los Angeles deserves that. It’s L.A., man. You deserve a winner here. Fans want a winner. ... Luc Robitaille and his staff his done a great job marketing the players and marketing the team, get an identity for our team. At the same time, they can get people in the building but we have to perform for them. I don’t even think, I know, because of what we’ve seen in the past here, if you put a winner on the ice in this city it’s going to be something special, that’s for sure.

"I think that those hard-core fans are true fans and they’ll be here thick and thin because they have been, because I see them in the building every night and I see them wearing our jerseys and I see the hope that they have. I think they’re always be that hard-core fans. At the same time, we can’t take advantage of that. We’ve gotta give them something to cheer about and I think that there might be a sense of frustration from that and I don’t blame them for that. They’ve seen a lot of change here and not the success that we expected, so in the last how many years ... success ... when I first got here, they were coming off a couple of exciting playoffs and it was sold out every night. It was sold out every night when I first got here. I don’t blame them, to be honest. We still get great fans. We had a sellout the other night. And we’re in last place. I think they see the potential in this team, they do see the potential and talent we have and the character that some of our players have, and I think they’re confident that that will become something special for them to watch and be part of it. For me and Frolov and Brown, guys who are kind of the older young guys now, who have kind of seen this whole transition, we kind of sit in the same spot as fans. That’s what’s exciting for us. We respect the guys we know can do the job and we’re hoping that it can turn it into something special here. Be part of it from the ground up.

"I think the fans can identify with that. They want to be part of it from the ground up. They want to win a Cup one day and say. 'I knew Patrick O’Sullivan and Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown and Alexander Frolov were the guys who were going to lead us to this Cup. I knew that. That’s why I was there when they were young and struggling.' That’s the part you can identify with."

Do NHL guys lose their edge in Southern California?

"Look at the Ducks, they won a Cup, I’m sorry, I don’t know if I buy that. I don’t. Maybe some guys, but I don’t think you want to play with a guy who the sun is going to soften up his game. Or his focus on what’s going on. Certain guys will have great years and not so great years, but we’re human beings. Professional athletes are human beings, too. You don’t know what’s going on in his personal life, you don’t know if a guy is playing with an injury he can’t even shoot the puck with. You don’t know if he’s got one leg right now and his groin, he can’t even skate but he’s playing for his teammates and that’s why he’s not producing the way he can. That’s stuff the public will never find out. That stuff is for the locker room. That’s how you gain the respect of his teammates but as far as a guy who’s not going to play as intense or focus on winning as much because there’s sun here ... I mean, I really struggle with that concept."

Isn't there less media scrutiny, less fan pressure, on hockey players here?

"No doubt. In Toronto, if you have a not-great night you’re afraid to go for a coffee the next morning because school kids are gonna be booing you. You know what I mean? So there’s definitely some pressure there, some attention to detail. But once again, Anaheim wins a Cup, and you can’t tell me there fans and media in Anaheim hold them any more accountable than the fans and media in L.A. So, I think, yeah, that has to come from within, that responsibility, that pressure to succeed, you have to put that upon your own self, and on your own team and hold each other accountable because you’re right, we’re not going to be held accountable by the media or by the public. It’s just not going to happen. Maybe it will one day. If you build a dynasty here you start winning and they expect that, maybe it can happen."

You're hurt, yes?

"I’m obviously not healthy and you can ask any athlete and the worst part of our job is any injury and watching your teammates play and not be involved. It’s terrible. But I have no choice right now. I have to work my hardest and stay in top shape and do what I can with what my body allows me to, and as soon as I can get back, I’ll be in there."

Is this a fun team to play on?

"I would say, I would say no, it’s not fun when you lose. ... No, I’m not having any fun this year playing like this. I want to be a winner, I want to be part of a winner. It’s the consummate team sport. I want to be part of a winning team. I want to be us to be that team that has that swagger. Let other teams call us cocky and arrogant. That’s when you know you’re good. I don’t think it’s fun playing the other way. But it would be that much sweeter if you get there and no what it felt like being here, that’s for damn sure."

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 9:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Here are the complete results of the election for the baseball Hall of Fame class of 2008.

Goose Gossage is the only candidate elected to the Hall. Candidates needed to appear on 75 percent of the 543 ballots cast (including three blanks). Jim Rice missed by 16 votes in his second-to-last appearance on the ballot.

Guys I voted for are noted with * in front of their names.

*Rich “Goose” Gossage 466 (85.8%)
*Jim Rice 392 (72.2%)
*Andre Dawson 358 (65.9%)
*Bert Blyleven 336 (61.9%)
Lee Smith 235 (43.3%)
Jack Morris 233 (42.9%)
*Tommy John 158 (29.1%)
*Tim Raines 132 (24.3%)
Mark McGwire 128 (23.6%)
*Alan Trammell 99 (18.2%)
Dave Concepcion 88 (16.2%)
*Don Mattingly 86 (15.8%)
*Dave Parker 82 (15.1%)
Dale Murphy 75 (13.8%)
*Harold Baines 28 (5.2%)
EVERYONE BELOW FALLS OFF THE BALLOT
Rod Beck 2 (0.4%)
Travis Fryman 2 (0.4%)
Robb Nen 2 (0.4%)
Shawon Dunston 1 (0.2%)
Chuck Finley 1 (0.2%)
David Justice 1 (0.2%)
Chuck Knoblauch 1 (0.2%)
Todd Stottlemyre 1 (0.2%)
Brady Anderson 0
Jose Rijo 0.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 6:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, Goose Gossage got into the Hall of Fame. Fine by me. I voted for him, though I concede there were years when I didn't, during the first eight years he was on the ballot.

Or at least I THINK there were years I didn't vote for him.

I could check with the Hall of Fame ballot cops, to find out.

I did a column for Sunday newspapers (you may read it here) in which I wrote about voting this year for more of the middling older guys -- because I don't trust the stats of most guys who played over the past 10 years.

I said I was voting for Bert Blyleven for the first time ... and then the baseball wackos went to work.

Apparently, some of them are so gripped by the Hall of Fame that they have search engines looking for every single journalist's Hall of Fame ballot.

And, the past few years, I believe I tended to write about the people I voted for. Generally as a notebook item. And their searches probably popped my "here is who I voted for" bits into their in baskets.

Anyway, one of these nutso bloggers alleges I voted for Blyleven in 2004, 2005 and 2006. But not 2007.

OK. If you say so. The thing is, I don't keep a record of this ... and even if I did I reserve the right to change my mind.

The HOF ballot is not a static concept. Some years, you get guys who so obviously are Hall of Famers that everyone else pales by comparison and you may not even vote for 10 (the maximum). I have had years like that. Like last year, when Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken made everyone else seem ordinary.

There also are times I find myself voting for a guy because I fear he won't get the 5 percent necessary to stay on the ballot, and I want to keep him around in case the electorate suddenly warms up to him. I may be convinced he belongs (like Alan Trammell) but I also may just want to keep him in the discussion even though I don't think he should get in, personally.

And, yes, there are times when I look at a guy's numbers ... and I waver ... and I vote for him. Barely. And then, a year later, I look at his numbers, and maybe some other (negative) aspect of them strikes me, and I do NOT vote for the guy. Like Blyleven. And a year ago, I got a heated set of messages from a Blyleven partisan, insisting he belongs. When I remain very, very shaky about him.

Anyway, no crime was committed. Once you vote for a guy, it doesn't mean you have to vote for him forever. And you can ignore somebody for years and finally vote for him. Like me and (I think) Gossage, this year. Or me (I'm pretty sure about this one, Ball Cops) voting for Jim Rice for the first time.

Anyway, never underestimate the willingness of baseball maniacs to argue any side of anything pertaining to the game. It makes things fun, generally. But sometimes it can be a little creepy.

And one more thing: I will match the time and energy I spend on my HOF ballot with the average member of the electorate. It isn't something I bash out in 10 minutes.

It also isn't something I keep in my records, for future reference, so my consistency can please the nut jobs.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 3:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm as much a regional football honk as anyone else, and I'd like to say USC deserved to be in the BCS title game.... but it didn't.

The matchup that we saw in the Louisiana Superdome was the correct two -- from what we knew BEFORE kickoff.

Ohio State deserved to be there because it was 11-1 and won the Big Ten.

LSU deserved to be there because it was 11-2 but won the toughest conference in the nation and because its two defeats were in overtime to good football teams.

USC? Lost to Stanford. Georgia? Didn't win its conference. Virginia Tech? Lost twice, and was hammered by LSU. Missouri? Lost twice to Oklahoma. Oklahoma? Lost twice, including to Colorado. Kansas? Didn't play anybody, so that one loss was enough to disqualify it. Hawaii? Really REALLY didn't play anybody.

And that's it.

We can indulge in this whole squishy, unprovable "but they were playing best at the end of the year" thing, and that applies to USC and Georgia, to a certain extent. But some people said that about Oklahoma, too, and the Sooners got hammered by West Virginia in their bowl game.

The right team won, of the two who were there.

What we CAN complain about, and make a mental note on, for next season ... is the rapid and fairly severe decline of the Big Ten.

Michigan upset Florida in, what, the Capital One Bowl ... but Illinois couldn't hang with USC and Ohio State probably wasn't even among the toughest half-dozen teams LSU played this season. And the Big Ten is now 0-4 in BCS bowls the past two seasons.

Hence, short-term ... one defeat in the Big Ten probably should be viewed as TWO defeats, equivalently, out of the Southeastern Conference or the Pac-10. And maybe even the Big 12 and Big East and ACC.

But, until they actually played the game, we probably did, still, have to put 11-1 Ohio State in the title game. I mean, we didn't think OSU was all that much a few years ago, and they beat Miami in OT in Arizona ...

But now we know the Big Ten is, in fact, a step behind. Literally and figuratively.

Anyway, everyone likes to trash the BCS system, but I don't mind it. I like it, actually. I think it preserves the bowl system, and all those December/January games I love to watch ... but it still gives us something very, very close to the best team. PLUS, we've got the back door of the Associated Press poll (which isn't part of the BCS system) if things get too wacky -- like they did in 2003, when USC won the AP half of a national title.

I think the best team this year was LSU. We can suggest it might have been more fun if Georgia or USC had played the Tigers in the Superdome ... but maybe those two teams shouldn't have lost twice in regulation in the regular season.

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

When I talked to Brian Abraham, the tackle out of Rancho Cucamonga High School, after the USC-UCLA game last month ... he seemed not particularly interested in the fate of Karl Dorrell. Not because he was being nasty or dislinked the guy but because, I believe, he had become a bit jaded by the whole college coach merry-go-round.

He said he had been through four offensive line coaches in his UCLA career.

While we tend to focus on head coaches, for players, their lives are far more tied up with their position coaches. And for Abraham, it was a revolving door of people who had lots of say-so in his career.

What prompted this? UCLA hired an offensive line coach today, name of Bob Palcic, and that makes four O-line coaches in four years and five in six. That's serious turnover.

No wonder Abraham talked about how "teammates and school" were where players' allegiances lie.

The history, as best I can reconstruct it.

Abraham presumably was recruited by Mark Weber, the 2003 O-line coach ... but a guy who was gone by the time Abraham got to Westwood in 2004.

Tom Cable was the O-line coach for 2004 and 2005, and Abraham seemed to do fairly well under him. He started some games, as a sophomore.

Then Cable left and was replaced by Jim Colletti, who apparently didn't like the cut of Abraham's jib. He was a backup, most of 2006.

Then Colletti was gone, replaced by Bob Connelly, and by then Abraham had to be kind of, oh, cynical about the process. But Connelly had him starting most of the year.

Now, this Bob Palcic guy. And if you're a redshirt senior lineman for the 2008 season ... that will be FIVE O-line coaches in your career. That's a ton. That has to be unsettling, too. Forget about the shift from Dorrell to Rick Neuheisel; it's the position coaches who matter most.

Anyway, the UCLA release:

Bob Palcic, who spent the last two seasons coaching the offensive line at the University of Wisconsin after 12 years in the National Football League, has agreed to join the UCLA coaching staff, Bruin head football coach Rick Neuheisel announced today.

Palcic brings over 30 years of experience to Westwood, where he also coached in 1993. UCLA won the Pacific-10 championship that season and played in the 1994 Rose Bowl. The Bruin offensive line featured seniors Vaughn Parker and Craig Novitsky, both of whom earned All-America honors and played in the NFL. It also included sophomores Jonathan Ogden, 1995 Outland Trophy winner and NFL All-Pro, and Mike Flanigan, who has been an NFL star for over a decade. Neuheisel was also an assistant on that Bruin staff.

“Bob is one of the top offensive line coaches in the country at any level,” said Neuheisel. “The young men in our program will be able to draw upon his wealth of experience to assist in their development as players on the field and men off the field. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to bring Bob back to UCLA.”

“I’m excited about returning to UCLA and I am looking forward to working for Rick,” said Palcic. “I’m confident we will be able to give out fans and alumni the football success they deserve.”

In 2007, Wisconsin finished 9-4 overall and played in the Outback Bowl. Led by the offensive line, the Badgers averaged 201.5 yards on the ground during the regular season (22nd in the NCAA). Center Marcus Coleman was a first-team All-Big 10 selection by the media, guard Kraig Urbik was a consensus second-team choice and tackle Gabe Carimi earned second-team Freshman All-America acclaim.

In 2006, he coached Outland Trophy winner and consensus All-America left tackle Joe Thomas at Wisconsin, which won 12 of 13 games. Thomas was the No. 3 pick in the 2007 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.

Palcic, 59, went to Wisconsin from the New Orleans Saints, where he coached tight ends from 2000–05. His previous NFL stops included coaching offensive line for the Cleveland Browns (1999), tutoring the tight ends for the Detroit Lions (1997–98) and coaching the offensive line for the Atlanta Falcons (1994–96).

Palcic went to Atlanta after spending 19 of the previous 21 seasons coaching offensive linemen at seven different universities, including Wisconsin. He coached the 1993 UCLA offensive line that matched up against the Badgers in the 1994 Rose Bowl. Palcic tutored the Southern California offensive line in 1992 and helped the Trojans to a Freedom Bowl appearance. He was offensive line coach at Ohio State from 1986–91, a period during which the Buckeyes played in two Hall of Fame Bowls, a Cotton Bowl and a Liberty Bowl.

Arizona’s offensive line was under Palcic’s direction from 1984–85 (the Wildcats played in the Sun Bowl during that time). A two-year stint (1982–83) with the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts (1983 Grey Cup title) was preceded by a four-year (1978–81) stop as Wisconsin’s offensive line coach under head coach Dave McClain.

Palcic was Ball State’s offensive line coach in 1976–77 (he went to Wisconsin with McClain, who was Ball State’s head coach) and Dayton’s linebackers/offensive line coach in 1974–75. He got his college coaching start guiding Ball State’s linebackers as a graduate assistant in 1973.

Among the college players Palcic has coached are: current Baltimore Raven All-Pro tackle Jonathan Ogden (No. 4 pick in the 1996 NFL Draft), third-team All-American and NFL veteran (Green Bay and Houston) Mike Flanigan and first-team All-American and 11-year NFL player Vaughn Parker (all of UCLA); All-America tackle Tony Boselli (USC); first-team All-Big Ten offensive linemen Bob Maggs, Jeff Uhlenhake, Joe Staysniak, Jeff Davidson and Alan Kline (all at Ohio State); All-American Ray Snell and 2006 Outland Trophy winner Joe Thomas (Wisconsin).

Palcic is a native of Gowanda, N.Y., and has a bachelor’s degree in education (1971) and a master’s degree in education (1974), both from Dayton. He was a linebacker for the Flyers from 1968–70. He and his wife, Theresa, have three children: Joe (currently the defensive coordinator at Indiana); Amy (an assistant in the Cleveland Browns media relations office) and Monica, who is married to New Orleans Saints LB Mark Simoneau.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 1:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't often take the 215 south ... right on through the Infamous Riverside 60/15/215 interchange. Which is good, because you really haven't wanted to be anywhere near it for the last, oh, 15-20 years.

But if you drive through that area because it's how you get to, say, Angels home games ... you noticed what seemed to be the interminable construction going on there.

Yesterday, I went through the belly of the beast on the way to San Diego and, guess what: The flying interchange from the 215 south to ... the 215 south ... is open!

It's high and it's impressive to look at -- and it seems to have eliminated (or severely reduced) that horrendous backup that congregated around the old clover-leaf interchange. (The clover leaf for which I decided, years ago, that ought to have put someone in Civil Engineer Hell.)

Anyway, I just flew over that interchange and actually had some speed going when I hit the freewayheading toward San Diego. As opposed to the old way, which put me and my underpowered car on an uphill climb doing about 5 mph, needing to get over two lanes in about 100 yards.

And on the way back from San Diego, at night, I got to take the other flying ramp, from the 215 north to the 91 west. Not that I wanted to, especially, but I missed the ramp to the continuation of the 215. Either I didn't see it in the dark and rain ... or it actually comes AFTER the big climb over to the 91.

But I was glad I took it, because now I've done the two big loops.

And it's a huge improvement. All that in-and-outing of cars exiting one freeway and those entering the other ... is gone.

I'll have to see what it looks like at rush hour to declare it a fix (short-term, anyway).

Oh, and the other thing: It reminds me of the Guthrie Interchange, in Berdoo. The 10 and the 215, that is. The one I'm convinced is going to come tumbling down someday when The Big One earthquake hits.

The new stuff in Riverside ... I won't vouch for it standing up to a 7.5 quake.

But for now, it improves that stretch of road immensely. Not saying you should make a special trip to check it out, but remember to admire it the next time you're going to San Diego or Moreno Valley of UC Riverside, etc.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not that I'm excited. I'm not. I don't get excited at NFL games. Why would I.

But I stuck exclamation points in the headline because the Chargers haven't won a playoffs game in a few years.

Well, 13 (!) seasons, to be exact. (There's an exclamation mark.)

There are kids in high school who were unborn the last time the Chargers won a playoffs game -- 17-13 over the Steelers, in the 1995 AFC title game in Pittsburgh, the one and only time San Diego got to the Super Bowl.

Since then ... the Chargers lost in the Super Bowl (49-26, to the 49ers), which is no crime ... but then the Chargers lost three consecutive postseason games at home.

In a 1995 wildcard-round game (35-20 to the Colts), in a 2004 wildcard-round game (20-17) to the Jets and a 2006 divisional-round game to the Patriots (24-21)..

So now A.J. Smith, the crabby general manager of this team, is a genius for hiring Norv Turner to replace Marty Schottenheimer, who had a history of getting stupid after Week 16. To the tune of 5-13 in the playoffs.

Not that this victory was easy, even with Vince Young and the Titans offense playing ineffectively. Tennessee led 6-0 at the half and probably should have been up by more, but it settled for a couple of field goals and coughed up a fumble in the red zone.

The turning point? Albert Haynesworth's brain-dead unnecessary-roughness penalty in the third quarter, which gave the Chargers 15 yards in Titans territory, and came one play before the TD pass that gave San Diego the lead, 10-6.

LaDainian Tomlinson capped a drive with a 1-yard run to put it out of reach, at 17-6. And then Quentin Jammer intercepted Vince Young a moment ago to lock things up.

Chargers got to Indianapolis next weekend to face the Colts. They will be underdogs in that one. Especially if tight end Antonio Gates (sprained toe) doesn't play.

But, hey, at least the Chargers got ONE playoffs victory. That isn't as easy to pull off as you might think. You could ask the Bolts.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 4:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, the Titans are still leading 6-3 ... when their talented but volatile defensive tackle, Albert Haynesworth, gets them in trouble.

The Chargers had just gotten a first down around midfield when LaDainian Tomlinson fell forward at the end of a swing pass.

Next play, Haynesworth is lined up over center when he jumped offsides -- over some movement only he saw.

And then, reflecting either bad judgment or maybe 'roid rage ... Haynesworth barged into quarterback Philip Rivers and sent him flying. An entirely gratuitous hit that cost Tennessee 15 yards via personal foul.

Mind, nobody was moving except Haynesworth, who could have just settled for being embarrassingly offsides but made it way worse by blasting the immobile and defenseless Rivers.

Haynesworth, remember, is the same maniac who stomped on a guy's face last season and earned himself a five-game suspension. He supposedly had his act together this season, though ... until a few moments ago.

Two plays later, Rivers rolls right out of a six-O-linemen formation, and finds Vincent Jackson standing alone at the 3. Jackson caught the ball and wriggled into the end zone and, bang, the Chargers were ahead 10-6.

Titans coach Jeff Fisher complained bitterly about the call. Maybe because Haynesworth didn't actually knock out Rivers? Seemed like had no grounds for a beef.

Titans are driving -- back down to the San Diego 17.

But they probably would still be ahead had not their star tackle lost his mind there and juiced up the Chargers' drive.

Might end up as the game's turning point.

It's raining again. It's going to make throwing the ball tough. Moving it and scoring it, too.

Titans missed a 38-yard field goal. Still 10-6 Chargers.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 3:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Approaching halftime here at Qualcomm, and so far it's the same ol' same ol' for the Chargers in a home playoffs game.

I was here for the choke-job loss to the Jets after, what, the 2004 season ... and last year for the come-from-ahead collapse against the Patriots ... and now a Chargers team favored by 10 points has three first downs and 94 yards a few seconds before half.

Tennessee has dominated the game. If not for a fumble earlier this quarter, the Titans would be up 6-0 at the least, maybe 10-0.

The Chargers had good field position once, at the Titans 40, but Philip Rivers promptly threw an interception in the end zone to kill that. And then a minute ago, Nate Kaeding hit a knuckleball on a 45-yard field goal attempt and missed it right.

The Chargers are playing without star tight end Antonio Gates, who went down with a toe injury a minute ago, and that can't be a help.

The Titans are jamming the line of scrimmage, daring the Chargers to pass, and they haven't really been up to it.

San Diego has only 88 passing yards ... but only 6 on the ground. S-I-X. And that's with LaDainian Tomlinson at running back.

Yeah, I know the Chargers rallied sharply to beat this team in OT at Tennessee, and being down only 3-0 isn't exactly scary, but their offense looks inept so far.

And if that's not Marty Schottenheimer on the sideline ... it's Norv Turner, and that may not be any better.

Titans field goal, as the half ends. It's 6-0, and the Chargers fans just booed their team off the field. I don't think Norv won them over, even with that six-game winning streak to end the regular season.

If the Chargers lose today ... it's gonna be ugly inside this stadium.

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

So, Frank Dell'Appa and I started talking about old times ... as I recall as an outgrowth of the conversation about the days when newspaper guys were treated by pro teams as something other than cockroaches who can type.

And we were talking about how the profession has changed, since we've been in it.

When we started, in the 1970s, people were talking about New Journalism (skeptical, eager to do investigative stories) ... but most everybody in the profession was still Old School.

Those guys were profane, cynical, probably smokers and likely to drink to excess -- sometimes while on the clock. They didn't always have their hands out, but they didn't have them in their pockets, either.

I mean, we're not sitting here all misty about the "good old days," because there were real ethical problems, back then. Some guys accepted seats on the team plane, and maybe even per diems for expenses (as if they were part of the team) ... and it wasn't really healthy.

More than a few of the guys who traveled a lot -- thinking baseball writers, in particular -- had semi-regular girlfriends in the various cities around the league. How they kept everyone and everything straight, I never figured out.

Anyway, perhaps THE least professional behavior the previous generation was likely to indulge in ... was alcohol. A few drank at games, or during office shifts.

A lot more drank -- often to excess -- the minute their work day was over. And for writers, that was as soon as they had filed their stories.

Just about every professional team had all-the-beer-you-could-drink available in the press box, postgame. Actually, I remember the Angels serving mixed drinks in the media cafeteria, long after games. And the late Don Drysdale, Angels broadcaster back then, would be there late nursing a strong drink or two -- with a sports writer or three nursing their own strong drinks.

That stuff has gone away. I'm not sure a single major-league venue provides alcohol of any sort anymore. They hardly provide food/snacks, and often charge for them. So lots of reporters now bring their own lunches to games, complete with food that is better for them than hot dogs. Sandwiches, fruit, carrots, etc.

Anyway, if you brought back those guys I knew in 1977, 1978 ... and put them in a modern press box ... they would be stunned by how much has changed. Freebies just about gone, no booze, bad seats. I'm not sure they would like it.

They also would declare the modern journos to be dull and almost no fun at all.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 2:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cory Lekkerkerker, a big Dutch kid from Chino who went to Damien High School and Chaffey College, played a couple of seasons for the Chargers after signing as a free agent out of UC Davis. And when I see any team I don't normally cover I always check for guys in the game who might be from the IE.

For the Chargers, last year, that "local" guy was Cory Lekkerkerker, the mammoth (6-7, 330) offensive tackle.

The Chargers cut him just before the 2007 season started, but Lekkerkerker almost immeediately was picked up by the Miami Dolphins, who were coached by Cam Cameron -- offensive coordinator for the Chargers last year.

Now, I'm worried about Lekkerkerker.

Entirely because Cameron was fired by the Dolphins last week.

Lekkerkerker had no stats this season, but offensive linemen often don't. He was listed, however, as their backup left tackle on their last depth chart, so I'm thinking he was active for some (all?) of their games this year. Which means he got a salary.

According to USA Today, Lekkerkerker was paid $435,000 this season, after getting $355,000 last year and $151,000 in 2005.

Anyway, that's serious money for staying in shape and practicing four days a week, getting the occasional snap in a real game.

BUT, the thing about marginal players (and Lekkerkerker is a marginal player) ... is that their careers often are very closely intertwined with the coaches who signed them and/or coached them. In his case, that would be Cameron. Who now is unemployed.

If you follow the NFL really, really closely, you'll notice how many backups and special teams guys, the people on the edge of The League, follow around the coach who likes them.

A coach will get a job in another city, and all of a sudden 4-5 guys from his old team are running down under punts, or backing up at linebacker, etc.

Chris Hayes, a guy out of San Gorgonio High School, was one of those. He was something of a Bill Parcells pet, a decade ago, which is why he played for both the Jets and Patriots. The Jets whole The Tuna was in charge, the Patriots after Parcells assistant Bill Belichick got the job there.

So, anyway, I hope Lekkerkerker saved some of that $435,000. He's a smart kid; he probably did. Thing is, it's not as if he can count on making the team next year with some other batch of coaches running the Dolphins. Which I am sure he already understands.

What would be best for Lekkerkerker ... is if Cam Cameron gets hired as somebody's offensive coordinator. Lekk could follow him wherever.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Chargers gave away "terrible towels" as fans filed into the stadium, and it's turning out to be a good deal.

Fans can swing them over their heads, of course ... and they also can put them ON their heads.

It's raining. Not hard. But it's steady. Everyone has their hoods up or hats on -- or towels on.

If it keeps up like this, the rain WILL be a factor. The Titans already have dropped a couple of passes on their first possession.

Have to think the Chargers will be less prepared to deal with less-than-ideal conditions.

That's what being a SoCal football team is all about.

At least it's not cold. But maybe I'll jinx us on that, too. I said it wasn't raining, about one minute before it started coming down.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 1:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm sitting here in the lousy Qualcomm press box, and next to me is a guy I know from soccer gigs, Frank Dell'Appa of the Boston Globe.

I had to squeeze past him to get to my seat. The third row is SO narrow that you cannot walk behind someone who is sitting and the wall behind us ... without that person squishing himself into a teeny ball -- or getting up entirely.

So we began talking about how lousy press boxes have become. They are afterthoughts in almost every new venue, indoor or outdoor.

He told me about New England's new football/soccer stadium (Gilette, right?), where the press box is in the end zone. The end zone.

I noted the press box we are in, which was up the first base line for baseball and brackets the end zone for football. I have a "good" seat and I'm above the 9-yard line on the west end.

At Staples, the media used to have a stretch of seats along one baseline ... but that year those seats disappeared so the Lakers could put in another row of courtside seats for $2,000 each.

The new football stadium in Glendale, Ariz., is like Gilette in that the press box was put in (designed in) to be lousy.

Anyway, it's an increasing marginalization of the print media. Everything is TV these days, and pro leagues don't remember how they got to be major topics of conversation. And they aren't remembering who, still, really are the only people who cover their teams on a daily basis. The newspaper guys.

Anyway, our seats no longer are any better than yours, most likely. At least we haven't been charged admission. Yet. But in the future I can see most media being shuffled off to a TV room somewhere below the stadium, limited to post-game access to the players -- because teams get just too much money from their paying customers.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Made my way down to the border to see an NFL playoffs game. This is, after all, about the time of year when pro football finally gets on my radar. "You've got it down to 10 teams now? I can manage that."

Anyway, even a day ago, we thought it would be raining buckets throughout this game ... but it's been dry all morning, far as I can tell. On the way down the 15 from the IE, I hit maybe five minutes of rain.

So unless we get a cloudburst in the next three hours, the weather sissies of San Diego -- and the Chargers -- should be OK out here in the open of Qualcomm.

As for the game, the Chargers are 10-point favorites, or somesuch, which seems crazy. The Chargers aren't the Patriots, or even the Colts and people think they're going to handle a team they had fairly severe trouble with only last month?

Philip Rivers seems to have regressed, and I don't like the Chargers receivers (still, yet) ... and then there's that whole "Chargers choke in playoffs" thing to deal with.

They have Norv Turner as coach instead of Marty Schottenheimer, and that's never a good thing -- excepy MAYBE in the playoffs.

Marty was 5-13 in the postseason in his career, the main reason he was fired last year after the Chargers went 14-2 in the regular season -- and then lost to the Patriots in the divisional round.

Norv is a much friendlier .500 in the playoffs -- but it's only 1-1. A reflection, really, of Norv's ability to get a team through the regular season.

So, anyway, most of the seats seem to be filled, and we're looking at kickoff in about 15 minutes.

I've paid only marginal attention to these teams ... but I think the Chargers WILL win. maybe 24-21.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 1:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Have I done this before? Maybe. But I think about it a lot.

Plus, there's a kid at a competing newspaper who knows I often like to make up lists as I sit in the press box, and lately has been challenging me to come up with all sorts of weird "top-fives" for the last year or so. Like at the Rose Bowl, when he said, "OK, top five media (credential) will-call windows."

Anyway, my top five college fight songs:

1. "The Victors" (Michigan). Dynamic, great lyrics, the (maize and) gold standard of fight songs. Though this recording is not a good one.

2. "Notre Dame Victory March"(Notre Dame). A little sluggish, especially when the prelude is included, as it is here in this old recording, but once you get to the refrain ... Great lyrics, too.

3. "Fight for California" (Cal). Peppy, layered. The best in the Pac-10, and it isn't close. Gives me chills.

4. "Mighty Oregon" (Oregon). Not well known, but direct, snappy, high-energy. Whenever I see the Ducks play, I come away humming this tune. The youtube clip here is a little slow to get to the fight song, which begins at about the 55-second mark.

5. Go U Northwestern (Northwestern). Not as well known as many of the Big Ten fight songs, but I rate it ahead of Wisconsin, etc. Gets right to the point, pushes you along, creates energy. All the things a fight song is supposed to do, it does.

Also-rans ... "Anchors Aweigh" (Navy), "Wild Blue Yonder" (Air Force), "Ramblin' Wreck" (Georgia Tech), "Fight On" (USC) ... really rather sluggish.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just sitting here watching the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins in the playoffs, and watching Mike Holmgren and Joe Gibbs with their fancy-schmancy heads sets on ...

And thinking, "Wouldn't it be interesting to tap into an NFL coaches' radio traffic?"

Hear the plays as they're called. Not that much of it would make sense to the layman. Hear the guys upstairs calling for a replay. Listen to the byplay about the referees killing them ... the criticism of their own players ... the dressing down from head coach to assistant in the booth. ("Why didn't you tell me?")

It would be fun.

NASCAR allows for members of the public to tap into their radio communication. Not that a whole lot goes on there, aside from "my car's running good" and "watch out for the 44 coming up on you" ...

NFL guys don't want anyone to hear what they say, and I'm not sure it's possible for a regular person to hack into their sound system.

But it would be fun to try. To hear the unvarnished, real-time version of events, as told by the guys whose jobs depend on the performances of players.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 3:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I always liked Martina Hingis. She was just so spunky. Well, yeah, and she could play. That's a winning combination.

She came along when women's tennis was being overrun by a tribe of Amazons, and she was this "tiny" 5-foot-6 kid who just ran and ran for hours, kept returning shots, and most of the time was beating the big girls because she could move them around, and out-think most of them, wear them down, and return their monster serves.

Then she got hurt ... and then she dropped out of the game for a while. And now she's gone, because she failed a drug test at Wimbledon for ... cocaine?

Of all the ways to go out. I mean, I could see her doing 'roids or HGH to keep pace with the Big Women ... but coke?

Now she has been suspended for two years, and her agent is saying, basically, "So what? She's retired."

Here's the story on her suspension.

Such a tacky way to go out. I feel bad for her. I feel bad that she's, like, the millionth athlete to fail a test who Has No Idea How That Happened. Or who suggests she somehow got contaminated by someone else.

Like, doesn't your place of work drug-test people before they get hired, and how many of them fail tests? Talking about guys who get stoned every day of their lives right up to their interviews ... but they don't fail tests.

Anyway, Hingis was my favorite player for, basically, her whole career. She used guile and gumption to get to the top of the game, and I admire that at all places and all times.

I wonder what will happen to her. Maybe she will turn up doing color commentary someday. Or marry a Greek shipping tycoon, or something. Maybe it will turn out for her, after all.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I e-mailed Landon Donovan with a batch of questions, and the Galaxy and national team standout responded, as he always does.

My questions, and his answers:

Q: When did you find out about the Major League Soccer rules change that allows the team to keep you AND David Beckham? Were you worried the team might have to trade you?

A: I got a call from Alexi (Lalas, team president) shortly after he found out. Not sure the exact date. It wasn't really my issue to worry about but I'm glad that it worked out without the Galaxy being punished.

Q: What is your sense of the Galaxy's future, short term and long term?

A: Our short term future is the same as our long term future: We can win now and in the future but we need some things to fall into place:

1.) The team to be a lot healthier than we were last year (too many injuries)

2.) We need to continue to get used to the Beckham circus that follows us around and be better about focusing on soccer

3.) A "normal" schedule like other teams have

If those things happen, we have as much talent as the next team and I like the group of players we have. We still need help in a few areas but we have a talented core group of players.

Q: If you were asked to play for the Olympic team, would you like to do that?

A: I have not spoken to anybody about the possibility of going to the Olympics but I would love to go if given the opportunity.

Note: Olympics soccer qualifying is limited to under-23 players, but three overage players per team are allowed in the Olympics themselves. Donovan played on the 2000 Olympics team ... but the U.S. failed to qualify for the 2004 Games.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Back by popular demand (OK, one guy wrote and asked I give this another whack) ... my predictions for the coming sports year.

The toting up of my 2007 predictions is on this blog a bit further down, below, a Dec. 31 entry.

I will do it by topic. Since it's not a column for the newspaper ... it doesn't have to have any real narrative value, right? Ah, the internet.

College football

1. LSU defeats Ohio State in the BCS title game

2. USC wins its seventh consecutive Pac-10 title

3. UCLA plays in a bowl game, but not the Rose

4. USC, Florida reach the (calendar 2009) BCS title game

National Football League

1. New England, Indianapolis, Dallas, Green Bay play for conference titles

2. New England wins the Super Bowl over Dallas

3, Sedrick Ellis and Terrell Thomas of USC are selected in the first round of the NFL draft

College basketball

1. UCLA makes the NCAA tournament

2. USC makes the NCAA tournament

3. Washington State wins the Pac-10 regular-season title

4. Kevin Love turns pro

5. O.J. Mayo turns pro

5. Darren Collison turns pro

6. Love is drafted before Mayo who is drafted before Collison

7. North Carolina wins the NCAA title

8. Cal State San Bernardino wins the CCAA title

NBA

1. The Lakers make the playoffs.

2. The Clippers do not.

3. The Lakers are eliminated in the first round of the playoffs

4. LeBron James is chosen MVP

5. The Lakers do not trade Kobe Bryant in calendar 2008

6. Boston, Detroit, San Antonio and Phoenix make the conference finals

7. Boston defeats San Antonio in the NBA Finals

Baseball

1. The Angels make the playoffs.

2. The Dodgers do not.

3. Barry Bonds doesn't get a single plate appearance

4. Roger Clemens doesn't face a single batter

5. The Angels defeat the Padres in the World Series

6. Andruw Jones fails to hit 20 home runs

Prep basketball

1. Redlands wins the CBL title

2. Arroyo Valley wins the SAL title

3. Etiwanda wins the Baseline League title

4. Colony wins the Mt. Baldy title

5. Kaiser wins the Sunkist

6. Chino Hills wins the Sierra

7. A.B. Miller wins the CBL girls title, and the 1-AA CIF title

Olympics

1. China leads the medals table at the Beijing Olympics.

2. The U.S. is second

3. Shawn Johnson wins the all-around gymnastics gold

4. The U.S. wins the men's basketball gold

5. Michael Phelps wins four swimming medals

6. Allyson Felix wins three medals in track

7. India doesn't win a single medal

Prep football

1. Redlands East Valley wins the CBL title

2. Los Osos wins the Baseline

3. Colton wins the San Andreas

4. Damien wins the Sierra

5. Ontario Christian wins the Christian

6. Colony wins the Mt. Baldy

7. Kaiser wins the Sunkist

8. San Bernardino County's streak of at least one CIF football champion ends.

Miscellaneous

1. No horse wins the Triple Crown

2. Jimmie Johnson defends his Nextel Cup championship

3. Danica Patrick wins her first Indy-car race (which I will predict till she does it)

4. Tiger Woods wins one "major" golf title

5. Lorena Ochoa finishes atop the LPGA money standings

6. Chivas USA makes the MLS playoffs

7. The Galaxy wins the MLS Cup

8. Roger Federer wins at Wimbledon

9. Gerry Wright steps down as SBVC men's basketball coach

10. The L.A. Sparks make Tennessee's Candace Sparks the first choice of the WNBA draft

11. Diana Taurasi wins her second WNBA title, with Phoenix

12. Detroit wins the Stanley Cup

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, I'm watching late-night TV, and Late NIght With David Letterman is back on CBS. New shows. Letterman came up with some special deal with striking writers, etc., so he's back after two months out.

Anyway, Letterman has a nasty beard going on. One of those solidarity things, I guess. Though I imagine the Writers Guild of America would like it better if Letterman gave them $1 million. Or however much cash he's got in his wallet. Whichever is less.

So, I'm looking at him ... and thinking "the old guy on the 39th day of 'Survivor Manahattan'" ... and then it hit me.

Letterman looks like Phil Jackson ... if Phil went a couple days without trimming the beard.

Phil is one of those guys who is always messing with facial hair. A soul patch, and then a goatee and then whatever else it is. It amuses them, I guess.

So, Letterman now looks like him. The glasses, the thinning hair, the gray beard.

Except he's not as tall.

And Phil is funnier.

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

USC finishes 11-2 after trashing Illinois in the Rose Bowl, becoming only the third team to score 49 points in the game's history.

The great question always will be how this Trojans team would have done had it gotten into the BCS title game. Which another two-defeat team, LSU, did get invited to.

USC coach Pete Carroll doesn't like the BCS system, but he has said repeatedly his team would like the chance to play whomever wherever, to prove themselves.

After Tuesday's game, he was asked about where the Trojans, as they stand now, fit into the national picture.

"The last thing I want to do is sit up here and lobby," Carroll said. "We did everything we could with what we had. ...

"The rest of it is up for discussion. But would we like to be playing right now? You bet we would. We would love to be playing football and we would go anywhere, anytime and see what we could do. I felt like that in Carson's year (Carson Palmer, 2002). I've felt like that every year I've been here. If we had a chance to keep playing, we would have a shot. Texas got us that one time ...

"So, you know, this is not to be misconstrued. I don't care about that. We had a great Rose Bowl tonight. Was thrilled about it. Let the argument go on there with the people battling the BCS process to figure it out. I have no answer for them. Just wish we could keep playing and I know these guys would, too. We would play long into springtime if we had to, if they would let us.":

Carroll would like some sort of playoff. That isn't going to happen anytime soon, of course. And even without the playoff, the Trojans would have gotten to the BCS title game had they defeated Stanford OR Oregon. They didn't, and reasonably intelligent and rational people who vote in polls decided (correctly) those defeats were more damaging than LSU's two. Or Missouri's two, for that matter.

USC entered the game ranked No. 7, and the Trojans may not move up even one slot in the final polls, barring some upset. Missouri (No. 6) and Georgia (No. 5) already have won. Maybe if No. 4 Oklahoma gets crushed by West Virginia, or No. 3 Virginia Tech loses big to Kansas ...

So that may explain why Pete didn't go nuts about the BCS, and why his "not lobbying" was so mild.

The Trojans had their shot. They lost two games they could have won. That means you don't win a national title..They were playing great at the end, but those two defeats didn't disappear off their record.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 8:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sedrick Ellis, the all-America nose guard out of Chino High School, is living out a dream for USC football players ...

He is leading the band in a rousing rendition of "Conquest."

Sed climbed atop the ladder Arthur C. Bartner uses to direct the band. Sed has the sword the drum major carries. And he's leading the beat ... and is loving it.

Desmond Reed was up there a minute ago. Now it's Chauncey Washington.

If they allow ALL the seniors to lead a rendition of Conquest ... the USC band could be here for another hour.

Anyway, I hope Sedrick gets a photo of himself atop that ladder, with the sword. It will be something he will prize, no doubt.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 6:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

USC just reeled off three touchdowns in six minutes of clock time, and this game is done done done. People are heading for the exits as darkness descends on the Arroyo Seco.

It was interesting, there for a minute.

Illinois tailback Rashard Mendenhall bolted 79 yards for a touchdown on the first Illinois possession of the second half -- turns out he's fast, just not shifty -- and it was 21-10. Then Illinois was driving, mostly on a 55-yard run by Mendenhall after a short pass ... and we were looking at a real game.

Then, at the 24, Illinois receiver Jacob Willis caught a pass over the middle and turned toward the end zone. At about the 8 USC linebacker Kaluka Maiava, coming up from behind, windmilled his arm into the football, popping it into the air ... and by the time it stopped rolling USC's Brian Cushing was on it in the end zone for a touchback.

USC then got a flat-out break. John David Booty threw a lateral toward Joe McKnight ... and it went off the freshman's fingers. Everyone's first thought was that it was an incomplete pass, but it was a live ball (as replays demonstrated), and McKnight chased it as some players seemed to let up for a moment.

But that was just the start of the break. As the ball rolled on the ground, it took a nice, waist-high hop just as McKnight caught up to it, and then took off on what would turn into a 65-yard run. That turned into a Booty 2-yard TD pass to Fred Davis.

Juice Williams threw an interception on the next play from scrimmage, and USC scored five plays later, McKnight going in from 6 yards out, and it was 35-10.

Illinois got something of a drive going, again, but this time Terrell Thomas of Rancho Cucamonga ripped the ball out of the hands of Cumberland, and USC's Cary Harris recovered. A few minutes later, Booty hooked up with David Ausberry on a 15-yard TD pass, and it was over. Except for the shouting. And the clearing of the benches.

Three turnovers that turned into USC touchdowns, and we're now looking at a blowout.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 5:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ack. This has turned out as dreary as I feared. The clouds have gotten thicker, not thinner, USC is vaguely interested in the game and Illinois is even feebler than I expected.

There have been moments in the first half here that were so quiet -- inside a stadium almost-filled with 90,000 people -- that I could hear individual conversations down below me.

We have answered the question: "What is the sound of 90,000 people, bored?"

Dead silence. Almost.

USC in the past has been vulnerable to the spread offense, but Illinois' Juice Williams is not a leading practitioner of the formation.

He doesn't appear to be able to throw at all, and that reduces your options by scads. With big ol' Rashard Mendenhall at tailback, the Illini don't have a credible option threat because he's just not very fast.

Illinois has some starters who don't really look like Division I players. Like, most of their O-line. Those guys start in the Big Ten?

Williams has been sacked four times, three times by Rey Maualuga. USC has a fairly modest 194 yards, but Illinois has only 79.

This game is turning into a one-day summary of USC's season.

Very good defense. Suffocating at times. Very average offense prone to breakdowns and missed assignments.

Illinois is putting up marginal resistance. But USC has "only" three touchdowns.

This is what USC's 2007 was about. Not great at scoring. Really good at not letting the other guy score.

Makes for a seriously dreary game, though.

USC just took the second half kickoff. Let's see if the Trojans can drive from their own 18. I'm thinking, no, probably not.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gotta give Pete Carroll credit. He seems to have gotten his team interested in an only semi-meaningful game.

USC has had the ball twice and scored touchdowns twice. The first on a John David Booty pass to Chauncey Wasington, the second on a double pass -- from Booty to receiver Garrett Green, who was lined up in the slot, and then the former prep quarterback threw across the field to Desmond Reed, who was all alone at the 10 and did a forward flip into the end zone. Drawing a flag, but whatever.

Anyway, USC up by two touchdowns, and if the Trojans score on this possession ... this could get ugly.

But the Trojans could lose interest, as well.

Which reminds me ... the point spread for this game was THE biggest for any of the 32 bowl games.

USC was favored by 13 /12 points, maybe 14 ... and that's their lead, already.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been to a lot of Rose Bowl games. Somebody just asked me how many. And I actually don't know. But it has to be 20. Maybe 25?

Anyway, I've been here and done this, so I have a little perspective ... and this is as limp a pre-game vibe for this bowl as I can recall.

There are still thousands of empty seats in the stadium ... and the fans seem listless. And those are the Illinois fans, who haven't been here since 1983.

The rest of the fans seem just plain bored. Those would be USC's fans, who are in Pasadena on New Year's Day for the third consecutive year -- and fourth in five.

A big factor here? Neither team has much at stake here, and fans recognize that.

USC can lose a little something by losing ... but the Trojans don't seem to think that's possible, so the negative nervous energy isn't there.

Let's see, what's at stake?

If No. 7-ranked USC wins ... nothing happens. It wins a game it's supposed to win, and unless a team or two ahead of them in the polls loses, USC won't budge in the rankings.

If Illinois loses, it was supposed to lose. When you're 2-10 one year and 9-3 the next and in a BCS bowl ... your season already is a huge success. So maybe that's why their fans already are content.

If USC loses, well, who could get excited about this game, anyway? Maybe if the Rose Bowl people had matched them with someone, anyone, who wasn't Illinois ... Hawaii, Missouri, even. How could we expect them to get fired up for this?

OK, four parachutists just came into the stadium with various flags ... and that seemed to wake up the fans. A little. Now the USC drum major just stuck his faux sword into the middle of the field ... you know, claiming it for Troy .... and USC fans looked up from their newspapers.

Anyway, this game is flat. Flat. Flat. We need Illinois fans to get into this, and we need their team to make a game of it ... because USC's people seem bored and only barely disinterested.

And WHEN is this game going to start??? It was advertised as a 1:30 start, which I knew would never happen, but it's almost 2 p.m. and the clock shows almost 13 minutes before it hits :00 ... and the game begins. In theory.

Won't be over till 5:45, at the earliest ... ack. I'm not sure we care enough.

At least the sun seems to be rallying.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 1:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This isn't supposed to happen. Clouds at the Rose Bowl?

We're a few minutes from kickoff and what was a bright sunny day an hour ago is a little gray, now.

It was so nice an hour ago that Bill Center of the San Diego Union kept announcing, "Gosh, this is PERFECT weather!"

We then got into a discussion about how the weather for the Rose Bowl nearly always is perfect. It's weird, but true. Sun. People in shorts and T-shirts. Smiling. Happy. While big chunks of the country shiver in the dark.

Center was telling me that the largest out-of-state alumni group in the state of California is from the University of Iowa. Because SO many Iowans moved here after watching Iowa play in sunny Pasadena back in the early 1950s.

I believe it. Absolutely. I grew up in Long Beach, and in my childhood the "All Iowa State Picnic" was a big, annual event at Recreation Park.

Anyway, it's a bit overcast. The lights are on. But I expect more sun. Pasadena rarely misses its closeup.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anyone who was up at 9 p.m.-ish last night probably saw this. Or couldn't avoid it.

Robbie Maddison, a nut case from Australia, flew his motorcycle 322 feet, 7.5 inches in the parking lot at the Rio in Las Vegas last night.

I mean, that's pretty impressive. Driving up a ramp at 85 mph, launching yourself into thin air, sailing more than a football field before touching down on another ramp.

But when it goes without a hitch, as Maddison's ride did, it can seem almost anticlimactic. Like, sure, anybody could do that right? Just rev it up, hold 'er straight, hit the brakes after you land.

It also seemed a little lackluster because it was about three seconds of action after something like a one-hour buildup ... during which ESPN treated the event like a moon-landing. Lots of talk about drag and yaw and pitch and apogees and reentry speeds ...

Gave the ESPN graphics department something to do, anyway.

Thing about the whole "jump" thing ... it only seems impressive when it fails. Like Evel Knievel at Caesars Palace all those years ago. I mean, there has to be some chance the guy's body could explode if he lands it wrong. But it looks almost easy if he doesn't ... and Maddison nailed the dismount, as the gymnastics kids would say.

When it was over, I was vaguely disappointed. I didn't want to see some kid fromm Australia, oh, "disarticulated" before my eyes ... but the long buildup and the ease with which he pulled off his football-field-plus flight ... made it seem almost a waste of time.

Posted by Paul Oberjuerge at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Quoth the Ravens: "Brian, you're gone."

Football is like this. Well, I guess life is, too. You might be a genius for a time, but eventually you end up an idiot. You're the same guy all along ... but perceptions of you change. It's silly, but there you are. It's like you wake up stupid.

Brian Billick was a genius back in 1998, when the was offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, who scored a then-record 556 points. He got even smarter when he took the Baltimore Ravens job in 2000 and won the Super Bowl in 2001. He was about as smart as a guy could get. Smarter than Belichick.

Then the Ravens began sagging, and Billick seemed to be shedding gray matter all along. Especially this season, when the Ravens lost nine consecutive games after starting 2-4.

Billick was fired Monday, along with his entire staff, after the Ravens went 5-11. Quite a dropoff from 13-3 a year ago.

Billick still is the most successful coach to come out of the Inland Empire. He graduated from Redlands High School in 1972. He played for the late Paul Womack there, and after playing at BYU he worked his way into the coaching ranks and moved onward and upward thereafter.

Billick without question is a very bright guy. But he also is keenly aware of it, and that sometimes can be a bit offputting.

You could watch him on the sideline, and "smug" seemed to be the only expression he wore. He was smug in victory, smug in defeat, smug at midweek practice sessions. I don't know if he really felt that way, but he sure seemed that way, especially in recent years.

This season, he seemed to lose his team. Defensive players were open in their contempt for the Ravens' offense, which was bad, yeah, and Billick was his own offensive coordinator. And his offense looked uninspired and limp; might have helped had he ever had a premier quarterback. (He won the Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer, for goodness sakes.)

Their game with the Patriots perhaps was the turning point. The Ravens could have, should have won, but bad decisions, bad penalties, etc., killed them as they self-destructed in the waning minutes of a Monday night game. Everyone saw it. It wasn't pretty.

Billick didn't seem too surprised or too broken up when he was fired. Even though the owner had given him the dreaded "vote of confidence" just two weeks ago.

Billick has three years left on a contract that pays him $5 million a year, so he isn't hurting for money. And he can get back into the game, if he feels like it. As a coordinator somewhere, for sure. Or as a head coach.

(Wouldn't UCLA rather have Billick running its program than his offensive coordinator, Rick Neuheisel? If only the Bruins had waited two days. Not that Billick would work that cheap ...)

Billick still has some ties to Redlands. Some of his high school teammates live in the area. He was close to Womack, who died in 2006. Womack used to travel to Baltimore at least once a season to see his former standout safety coach. Billick treated Womack very well.

Anyway, there he goes. Big Brain Brian, a few years ago ... now just another guy whose team seemed to tune him out and quit on him.

He will be back, if he wants to be.

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