Letters: Trojans don’t look strong in Boston

It looks like Pat Haden won’t have to be concerned with pro-USC bias when he performs his duties with the College Football Playoff Selection Committee.

Vaughn Hardenberg

Westwood

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In light of USC’s 20-yard rushing performance against the vaunted Boston College defense, thought by some to be the toughest since the 1985 Chicago Bears, and in the tradition of the school that always has a half-dozen high school All-American running backs from which to choose, some slight modifications to the traditions have been announced:

1. Tailback U will become Tailback Eew.

2. Student Body Right is now Student Body Light.

3. Fight On now known as Fight Yawn!

4. Traveler has an appointment with the taxidermist.

Kevin H. Park

Encino

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Dear Pat Haden:

Please make an appointment for Coach Sarkisian at Keck Medical Center. It appears he has come down with a severe case of Kiffinitis!

Jim Amormino

Rancho Palos Verdes

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Clancy Pendergast was superlative as USC defensive coordinator last year, but now we have Justin Wilcox, a Washington transplant. Pendergast built one of the best defenses in the Pac-12, oh but wait, he was let go for Wilcox, whose defensive wizardry at Washington earned a 2013 ranking of 99th in the nation in total defense. Fair trade? I don’t think so.

On the other side of the ball, Sarkisian’s game plan for Boston College was akin to having four Ferraris and an old truck in the garage and taking the old truck to the race track and wondering why it can’t keep up.

Robert J. Gagliano

Palos Verdes

The kid did it

Forget the hurry-up offense. Jerry Neuheisel needs to get married ASAP and father a son.

Wes Wellman

Santa Monica

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Missed a good investment opportunity this month. Of course, I missed the stock market going from 6,500 to 17,000.

If I would have placed $1,000 on the first UCLA game and taken Virginia and the points I would have had $2,000 to bet the second week on Memphis and then $4,000 the third week on Texas.

Today, I would have $8,000. Anyone know the spread for the Arizona State game?

Duane Gomer

Coto de Caza

Too soon?

Congratulations to the Angels for winning the 2014 World Series on Wednesday Night — just 24 hours after the Orioles and Nationals did the same. The only thing these teams did was make the playoffs. Nothing more. Nothing less. In no other sport do teams massively overreact for just making the playoffs. If a team’s goal is to just make the playoffs then celebrate like this all you want, but then tell this to your fans so they won’t be upset when the team gets eliminated early.

If the goal is a World Series title, wait until you do that and then celebrate, but not some largely meaningless “accomplishment” of just making the postseason.

Erik Schuman

Fountain Valley

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Now that the Angels have clinched the AL West, I give Jerry Dipoto credit for several adept in-season bullpen moves, such as swapping Frieri for Grilli and picking up Street and Thatcher, that fixed a glaring problem not addressed adequately last off-season.

That said, the starting situation is still a mess and not playoff-worthy. The Angels can’t be expected to tee off offensively on playoff-caliber pitching staffs as they have on lesser teams. Expectations for reaching the World Series have to be tempered given the huge question marks involving every starter except Weaver.

Jeff Pollak

La Crescenta

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Like me, anyone who has been watching the Angels gel this season would probably prefer to have Collin Cowgill at the plate, rather than Josh Hamilton, in a clutch situation. Although I admire Hamilton’s patience and self-control through his extended dry spell, Cowgill’s the better player at this point.

I would also like to point up the stellar job Mike Scioscia has done this year, in the face of multiple detractors printed in this space earlier in the season. Come playoff time, the Angels will go only as far as their starting pitching will take them, but Scioscia is as good as they come at the helm.

Thanks Angels, for filling the TV gap so impressively!

Ron Goodman

Santa Barbara

They’re on the air

I just saw a TV ad for an upcoming Dodgers Fan Appreciation Day. The only bigger oxymoron than that is TWC customer service.

Dave Eng

Thousand Oaks

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Time Warner Cable’s token gesture of airing the final five or six Dodgers games is like whipped cream on spoiled meat.

Bud Chapman

Northridge

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Congratulations to Time Warner Cable! Fans have already been robbed of a chance to see an exciting Dodgers season, and now you decide to spoon-feed them the last week. Gee, thanks! Impressionable kids have had a chance to cut their teeth on the Angels and their best record in baseball, and everyone loves a winner. I assume money-hungry executives realize that some of these fans have now tied their allegiance to the Angels, and Mike Trout, and will not be back.

Chris Gagliano

Rancho Palos Verdes

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You’re losing 15-1 and you have Andre Either batting after never playing him. You have Yasiel Puig in a slump and you bring up a minor leaguer to replace him when you have outfielders that can play. You’re losing by one run and you have the slowest runner at second base and you don’t pinch-run for him even though you still have two catchers in the dugout.

On-the-job training in the majors with a team that should compete in the World Series is a mistake. If the Dodgers do not win their division, don’t blame injuries or slumps: It all falls on Donnie Baseball.

Luis Cruz

La Mirada

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To the writer that needed a rhyme for Greinke:

The Braves had Spahn and Sain and pray for rain. The Dodgers have Kershaw and Greinke and grab a hankie.

Dan Cowan

West Los Angeles

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Kershaw and Greinke and three days of stinky.

Nick Rose

Newport Coast

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These are the saddest of possible words:

“Kershaw, then Greinke, then who?”

Set to fight Pirates, Nats and Redbirds,

Kershaw, then Greinke, then who?

Ryu has been injured, and Haren’s had trouble.

The beards in the bullpen are worn down to stubble.

But watch as the Giants are slain by our double:

It’s Kershaw, then Greinke, that’s who!

Axel W. Kyster

Bradbury

Sign of the times

In the late 1950s, my best Little League buddy and I joined our team at an exhibition game between our minor league Memphis Chicks and the legendary New York Yankees. My friend Billy worshiped Mickey Mantle, and at the end of the game we rushed to the curb in front of the stadium, where a line of taxis waited. The Yankees players rushed straight from the field in uniform and forced their way through a throng of screaming kids. Billy and I managed to place ourselves between Mantle and Yogi Berra and the taxi they planned to share. Billy hopefully extended his plain scrap of paper and crude schoolboy pencil toward his hero, who hastily scrawled a big “X,” threw the stuff back and literally dived into the cab beside Yogi.

I left Memphis 44 years ago, but I bet Billy still has not just the paper, but also the pencil.

Cay Sehnert

South Pasadena

Roger that

Roger Goodell says “I got it wrong,” but really, what has he gotten right in his tenure? Bountygate, Spygate and denial of concussion problems all happened under his watch. Domestic-abuse scandals are nothing new, but the continuing “slap on the wrist” was no deterrent and disrespectful to women. Goodell refused to act until confronted with threats from huge NFL sponsors and public pressure. He insists on playing games in England and Canada yet ignores the lack of a team in the second-largest city in the nation. The TV networks and sponsors will throw billions of dollars at whoever is running the league, Goodell’s job is to keep focus on the game and he has failed miserably.

It’s time for Roger to say “I got it wrong, now I must go.”

Mike Gamboa

Buena Park

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Here is an idea: Let’s put Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson in an elevator. Have each man armed with a switch from a tree branch, and let them go at it. The elevator would have glass walls. Bleachers could be set up and admission charged. Have the event on national television. All the proceeds would be split down the middle, with half going to a battered women’s organization, and half to an organization that helps in finding homes for abused children. The winner of the bout would be the last man standing after he drags his opponent’s limp, unconscious body through the elevator door.

Roger Goodell could also be included in the event. He could walk the aisles selling refreshments.

Thomas Hoerber

Valencia

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Roger Goodell’s NFL: Not Feeling Loved

Jeff Black

Beverly Hills

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And to think the NFL thought that Michael Sam was going to be a distraction.

Steve Ross

Beverly Hills

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