Letters: It has to get better for Trojans and Bruins, right?

For all you Trojans football fans hoping for a return to the glory days, reality has likely now set in. You are just another chump team on the bus ride to mediocrity. Whereas, we Bruins fans have no delusions — we have been on that bus for a long time. Welcome aboard.

Charlie Pankow

Moorpark

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The best thing that happened to USC and UCLA last weekend was that they both played their games in Texas. After their pathetic defeats, their athletic directors didn’t have to fly very far to meet with their next coaching candidate in Houston.

Ryan Madden

Huntington Beach

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Look what the Tide washed in.

Ted Brock

San Gabriel

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Before the Alabama game I read in your pages that the Trojans were “fast and deep.” This must have been a misprint for “fast asleep.”

Ted Labrenz

Morro Bay

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So this is what a Clay Helton team looks like with nine months to prepare for an opponent. One need look no further than the recent coaching hires at Michigan and Ohio State to see Mr. Haden sold our program short.

David A. Sánchez

Pasadena

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To Clay Helton’s skeptics: His Trojans proved that, for one quarter, they can stand-up to any team in the nation.

To Lane Kiffin’s critics: Revenge is a dish best served by a dual-threat, strong-armed, fleet-footed, freshman QB.

To USC’s disgruntled fan base: Fright On!

Steve Ross

Beverly Hills

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Just when you thought nothing could possibly be worse than the past six years of Trojan implosion, Helton and Co. self-destruct on the national stage against the Crimson Tide. My only suggestion to the top brass at USC is to shut down the football program before it gets worse, or to move games over to the soon-to-be-defunct Sports Arena, which probably can now hold the number of alumni interested in what was once Trojan football.

Stevan Colin

Redondo Beach

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All will not be lost should Clay Helton’s goal of a Pac-12 championship end with a loss at Stanford next week. I expect Lynn Swann will meet him on the tarmac upon arrival at LAX.

Barry P. Resnick

Orange

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Here’s the difference between a winning coach and a so-so coach. After Alabama’s smackdown of USC, Nick Saban railed against his team’s performance: “I wasn’t pleased with the way we played.” Contrast that with what UCLA’s Jim Mora said after his team’s woeful breakdowns in every facet of the game: “I saw something here at UCLA that I certainly haven’t seen in my time here, and I’m excited about that.” Really? What’s in his Gatorade? This confirms that UCLA football, under Mora, will continue to be “excited” churning out 8-5 teams during his tenure. He does his kids, the fans, the school, and the city a disservice by implying this is as good as it’s going to get.

John Wood

San Pedro

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Is it possible that Jim Mora’s excitement over UCLA’s comeback performance in their loss to Texas A&M was simply a way of distracting everyone from an awful coaching job? Didn’t he mismanage a late second-quarter timeout that left his kicker with a long field goal from the far left hash mark, somewhere in the vicinity of Waco? Looked more like one of those impossible rugby extra points to me. And, where was the spy on running QB Trevor Knight on fourth down in overtime?

Mario Valvo

Ventura

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UCLA has been fortunate to have a slew of outstanding quarterbacks through the years. Bob Waterfield, Billy Kilmer, Gary Beban, John Sciarra, Tom Ramsey, Troy Aikman, Cade McNown and Drew Olson all excelled in Westwood. Josh Rosen will never make such a list. What he doesn’t have you can’t teach, and with what he does have, there ain’t enough.

Marty Foster

Ventura

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Perhaps that learned political scholar, Josh Rosen, might turn his attentions to making UCLA football great again.

Bob Burdick

Costa Mesa

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If Nick Saban can win it all with the likes of Kiffin and Sarkisian, maybe he is the greatest college football coach ever … who couldn’t cut it in the NFL.

Jack Von Bulow

Temple City

Winning and losing

The Dodgers may be headed for the playoffs, but they continue to lose the fan base. The TV debacle should have been solved long ago. Showing the last six games of Vin Scully just reminds us how greedy and inconsiderate the new owners are. The stadium experience is also a growing turnoff. No matter what the “tickets sold” figure says, the seats are not filled. The fact that rubbery Dodger Dogs are virtually the only food available makes repeat visits less appealing.

But the worst is the beer prices. If you have not been there lately, here is what I noted on Sept. 6: Souvenir Craft Draft $17; Craft Draft $14.50; Premium Beer $15; Domestic $13.50, Domestic Large Draft $11.50. (One counter did have “Small Draft $7,” but you would have to search for it.) The owners clearly want to price out the casual fan from enjoying a day at the ballpark, and that attitude cannot be good for the long run.

Lawrence Halperin

Los Angeles

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Dylan Hernandez got it right on Friday. The tactical aptitude that Dave Roberts had shown this season is the biggest reason I am optimistic about the Dodgers going deeper into the playoffs than they ever did under Don Mattingly. With his lack of same, Donnie Baseball single-handedly managed us out of the playoffs the last two years at least. And like Donnie I too am experiencing a measure of peace that I never experienced while he was in L.A.

Larry Weiner

Culver City

Short and sweet

I read the article about Drew Brees accepting a two-year contract rather than his preference for five years as he felt that it was in the best interest of the team to make it shorter. He also said that it made everyone more comfortable and gave the team an opportunity to go out and do the things necessary to continue to build the team putting them in a better position to succeed.Too bad Zack Greinke didn’t feel the same way when he signed with the Diamondbacks.

Jeff Hershow

Woodland Hills.

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