No One Said the Job Required Any Perspective

USC looked terribly unprepared in its Sun Bowl loss to Texas Christian, but give Coach Paul Hackett credit for knowing what not to say.

Larry Smith famously said “names and logos don’t mean anything” anymore after USC lost to Fresno State in the 1992 Freedom Bowl, and was fired soon after.

Hackett entered a makeshift interview room after the game Thursday in El Paso, eyeing the chair where he was to sit. “Is this the electric chair?” he asked.

In any case, it’s a much more comfortable seat when you’re in the first year of a five-year contract, as Hackett is.

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Trivia time: What is the highest point total of a losing team in the Rose Bowl game?

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Roly-poly: New York Jet Coach Bill Parcells joked this week about being described as weighing 240 pounds in a recent Sports Illustrated story.

“Hey, listen, let me tell you something,” he said. “If I fell down, I’d rock myself to sleep.”

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Winning isn’t everything: The firing of Washington football coach Jim Lambright on Wednesday had a similarity to the firing of USC’s Smith in 1992.

Lambright had an overall record of 44-25-1 for six seasons. Smith was 44-25-3 for six seasons while taking the Trojans to three Rose Bowl games.

Decent overall records, but nothing to compare with Elmer “Gloomy Gus” Henderson, who was USC’s coach from 1919 to 1924 (yep, six seasons).

Henderson had a record of 45-7, .865, best winning percentage of any coach in USC history--and he was fired.

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Why not? Tampa Bay finished the season with an 8-8 record and when Coach Tony Dungy was asked what needs to be done to his offense, he said:

“I don’t see a quarterback coach coming in, and I don’t see a new offensive coordinator. I just don’t see that being done.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1961, George Blanda passed for three touchdowns, kicked the extra points and a field goal to led the Houston Oilers to a 24-16 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in the first American Football League championship game.

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Looking back again: On this day in 1987, Penn State, ranked No. 2, defeated

No. 1-ranked Miami, 14-10, in the Fiesta Bowl to win the national championship.

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Trivia answer: Wisconsin scored 37 to USC’s 42 in the 1963 game.

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And finally: San Francisco 49er Coach Steve Mariucci has 26-8 record over two seasons, 12-4 this season, yet his job may be in jeopardy.

Ira Miller of the San Francisco Chronicle wonders whether the 49ers need to beat Green Bay on Sunday in a first-round NFL playoff game to keep his job.

“The very question sounds unfair. Yet we’re left wondering about it by the deafening silence of the support Mariucci gets these days from 49ers’ ownership and top management, whoever that might be.”