This Is One Sports Trend That Needs to Continue

The question Wisconsin Coach Barry Alvarez heard most often during last year’s buildup to the Rose Bowl was whether his star running back, Ron Dayne, would return for his senior year.

He did, as did Tennessee’s Peyton Manning in 1997 and Texas’ Ricky Williams in 1998.

Now another junior with a promising pro career, Purdue quarterback Drew Brees, has decided to postpone his entry into the NFL draft until he completes his college eligibility.

“I hope it’s a trend,” Alvarez said during a news conference Wednesday.

“I talked to [Green Bay General Manager] Ron Wolf about Drew Brees. He said to look at Peyton Manning and the maturity he gained by staying for his senior year as compared to Ryan Leaf.”

Leaf left after his junior season at Washington State, although it has since been established that he needed longer than one more year to mature enough to play in the NFL.

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Coaches below the professional level should be judged not only by their wins but by how their teams respond to losses. (Pro coaches? They should be expected to win every game.)

By that standard, the 2000 Rose Bowl game could hardly have better head coaches than Alvarez and Stanford’s Tyrone Willingham.

“Resiliency and how you bounce back, that’s the kind of character that needs to be displayed by a Rose Bowl team,” Willingham said at the Tournament House in Pasadena.

Alvarez’s Badgers were stunned by a 17-12 loss to Cincinnati in their third game, then lost the next week to Michigan, 21-16, before winning their final seven games to finish 9-2 and ranked No. 4.

Willingham’s Cardinal had farther to bounce back after opening with a 69-17 loss at Texas. Stanford won the next three, lapsed again in a 44-39 loss to San Jose State, then won five of six to finish 8-3 and No. 22.

The Cardinal could have quit after the game in Austin, as another team did that was humiliated on that same field two years ago when Texas lost, 66-3, to UCLA. The coach of that losing team, John Mackovic, is now watching games from a television studio.

“We try to focus on the here and now,” Willingham said. “We try to stay in the present. Whatever happened last week is not as important to us as what will happen in the next game.”

Alvarez, grounded by his doctor after knee replacement surgery but appearing on a television screen via a satellite link, said his philosophy is essentially the same.

“First of all, we emphasize improvement,” he said. “If you emphasize one game or emphasize winning, you have a tendency if you have a bad game to let it bother you longer. Even after those two losses, we thought we had a pretty good team and our goals were still intact.”

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After deciding free agent Chuck Finley was too expensive, Angel management needs to make a move to restore credibility not only with fans but its own players. . . .

“It sends a message,” Tim Salmon told the Pasadena Star-News’ Joe Haakenson after the Angels declined to even make an offer to Finley. . . .

“I don’t think they did it on purpose, but it tells me if I have a good two years [before becoming a free agent] maybe I played myself out of their market.” . . .

Tension between Ziggy Palffy and Andy Murray dissolved quickly after it become clear that the King coach was merely trying to protect his star forward. . . .

Palffy was miffed when Murray said that the player asked to sit out the overtime last Friday against the Mighty Ducks because of flu, a conversation Palffy said never occurred. That’s true. . . .

The real reason Murray sat Palffy was because of his aching back. Murray feared that if he disclosed it, Palffy would become a target the next night against Tampa Bay. . . .

Dick Vitale has been particularly critical of UCLA’s schedule during a fortnight in which Pacific 10 foe Arizona is playing Texas, Connecticut and Michigan State. . . .

Knowing how much he values academics, I’m sure he just overlooked that the Bruins are involved in finals. . . .

The U.S. women’s soccer team resumes its Toys R Us Victory Tour tonight vs. the World All-Stars at the Arrowhead Pond. The U.S. women recently ended a four-game losing streak. . . .

“I haven’t lost four in a row since high school--in volleyball,” says Julie Foudy of Mission Viejo. . . .

And finally: If you’re a hunch bettor, check out Laffit Pincay Jr. today in the fifth race at Hollywood Park on Finally.

Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com.