Just Another Game for Long Beach, Too

Where does USC Coach George Raveling (Dec. 5) get off blaming last year’s 85-66 loss to Long Beach at the Sports Arena as a case of the 49ers treating it as “the game, their Super Bowl, their Rose Bowl,” while for the Trojans it was just “another game.”

In fact, USC played very hard last year but simply got crunched by a superior, better coached Long Beach team. And I hope Raveling won’t be upset to learn that Long Beach valued its win over UNLV and its NIT bid much, much more than the early season victory against USC.

I am sorry Raveling got the flu and wasn’t present to see this season’s younger, less experienced Long Beach team once again defeat the Trojans, 82-81. It looked a lot like both teams played hard and Long Beach simply won.

GARY LITTLE

Long Beach