Given Saturday’s Effort, Give Toledo the Edge

The high points, low points and ticklish talking points of the weekend that was:

It happens almost every time you go looking for ways to give Paul Hackett wiggle room, every time you wonder why the spotlight is always on USC’s glaring weaknesses under Hackett and not UCLA’s under Bob Toledo.

Yes, it’s not always fair.

No, the Trojans aren’t doing a whole lot worse than the Bruins as they head into Saturday’s rivalry matchup at the Coliseum.

Yes, two up-and-down years of Hackett is not enough to slam the ax down, especially with all that young talent still stocking the Trojan roster and with Carson Palmer in street clothes for most of this season.

But then you watch the two teams on Saturday--UCLA’s derailment of Washington and USC’s edgy victory at Washington State--and you cannot help it, the contrast is too obvious:

Some coaches instill and embody confidence, and Hackett is not one of them. Toledo is.

The Bruins, though battered and often splattered this humbling season, seem to have a plan every week, learning things from play to play, right on through to knocking Washington and Marques Tuiasosopo off stride.

Hackett’s erratic Trojans, though frequently featuring brilliant individual plays, seem brittle and easily distracted, a fine football duplicate of UCLA’s basketball team in the dizzying, disjointed Steve Lavin tenure.

If USC doesn’t get a Kris Richard interception return and stop Washington State on fourth and goal, the crumbling Cougars probably win that game, forget about that unbelievable USC pass-interference penalty on what should’ve been the last play of the game.

So, maybe the only good thing about these twin terrible seasons has been the chance to see Hackett’s and Toledo’s character reflected in their teams even clearer, and see it play out again in the usual way Saturday.

THE BIG PICTURE

Unfortunately for him and us, Lennox Lewis is not going to save boxing, or even come close.

Saturday, we saw the best he can give--Rounds 7 and 9 against Evander Holyfield were as frenetic as the heavyweight division gets these days, short of Mike Tyson vs. the Nevada commission, Round 99, or when those International Boxing Federation officials start queuing up for their checks.

But Lewis is a transitory figure, from the Holyfield-Tyson era to . . . whatever comes next.

We saw that in the other rounds, when the littler, older, wearier Holyfield took it to Lewis with varying degrees of success, and Lewis replied with flickering degrees of ferocity.

Lennox is a thoughtful, huge, quick-fisted heavyweight, with a great trainer (Emanuel Steward), a wobbly chin and very little ability to sustain a killer passion in the ring.

He’s no Ali, or even Larry Holmes. He’s definitely no Holyfield, and let’s make a deal right now that 24 rounds of Evander struggling to get inside of Lewis’ reach, and Lennox struggling to put shots together, is enough.

Here’s the Lewis reality, in a nutshell: Whom would you pay big money to see Lewis fight now?

HBO’s prized young heavyweights, Michael Grant or David Tua? No.

Riddick Bowe? That would’ve been intriguing if Bowe didn’t wipe out his career in the last few years.

Tyson? I wouldn’t pay to see Tyson in the ring against anybody except Don King.

LEADING QUESTIONS

Is it wrong to feel some respect for the Oakland Raiders these days?

Can we simply remove Al Davis from the equation, and focus on the heart and improvisation of Rich Gannon and the glare of Jon Gruden and that flying defense?

After laughing at their frustrations all these years, can’t you admire Eric Allen, Charles Woodson, Darrell Russell and Tim Brown without giving aid and comfort to the menacing?

The 49ers down, the Raiders playing with guts . . . does this feel like the ‘70s, or what?

WEEKEND TALKING POINTS

1. Shaquille O’Neal vs. Charles Barkley: As his own unique farewell-season event, starting with the biggest, Charles will fight every player in NBA.

2. Bill Bradley’s Madison Square Garden fund-raiser: A wonderful day for the former Knick, marred only by Reggie Miller giving him the “choke” sign.

3. Shark Shootout: Couples and Duval team up to shoot lights out. Has tour found a way to make it competitive for Tiger--2 on 1 golf?

4. Lawrence Phillips suspended: Let’s face it, he is and always has been a Barcelona Dragon at heart.

5. Adrian Beltre: From now on, should be called a six-tool player--speed, power, average, arm, hands and birthdate-flexibility.

6. Buffalo, Miami, New England, Indianapolis: Forget about NFC, just let these teams play an AFC East tournament, and name the winner Super Bowl champion.

7. Fun at “the Farm”: Stanford football team is Rose Bowl leader. Basketball team is younger, faster than ever. Must be those lax academic standards.

8. Ron Dayne, college football rushing champion: 6,397 career yards, 60,000 career smashed-up defenders.

9. Green Bay, San Francisco: Mike Holmgren and George Seifert got the big bucks, and got out when the going was . . . not so depressing.

10. IBF demands sanctioning check paid to personal account, refuses to give belt to Lennox Lewis: They’re giving boxing corruption a bad name.