That Seat Toledo Is On Can Run Hot and Cold

I know it was a pleasant evening in the Rose Bowl, but I wasn’t surprised when they brought out six huge cooling fans for the Bruin sideline, because everyone knows Coach Bob Toledo is on the hot seat.

Times reporter Steve Henson went so far as to check the Internet and reported last Sunday there were 184 media references linking “Bob Toledo” to “hot seat,” which explains, I guess, why Toledo made no move to sit down in the Rose Bowl.

If you’re in Toledo’s position I would imagine you can’t afford to ever sit down again. Back in the days when “The Simers and Plaschke Show” was on the air--a preview as we know now to “American Idol”--we were only kidding when we asked Toledo to sit in the hot seat. He avoided us, however, and while I thought he just didn’t like Bill Plaschke, now I understand.

*

I WAS hoping to run into basketball Coach Steve Lavin at the Bruins’ game so I could talk to an expert about the hot seat, but a school official said if he was at the game, no one would know it. Sounds like the witness protection program to me.

Lavin, of course, bobs and weaves his way through every season while wearing a target on his back, but this is going to be something new for Toledo, losing his job in the first quarter and then getting it back in the second every week.

For example, when Akil Harris fumbled the opening kickoff twice, Tab Perry dropped a pass on the Bruins’ first offensive play and Colorado State went up, 10-0, you know someone expressed dismay that Rick Neuheisel had just extended his contract.

With 13:37 remaining in the second quarter, the Bruins ran a well-timed reverse, Junior Taylor scored, and boy oh boy, old Bob fooled them once again.

*

IT’S BEEN well-documented that Toledo has some of the best boxers and poorest decision makers in college football, who at times park wherever they want. UCLA has gone 17-17 the last three seasons, and I know Teflon Bob’s record for going through defensive coordinators.

But Toledo has given Bruin fans some thrills some schools will never experience--twice putting them into national championship contention with a 10-0 start in 1998 and a 6-0 run a year ago. He directed his team to 20 consecutive wins in a time when parity dictates upset after upset, proving he knows how to put together a major college program.

He has had key performers let him down and he failed to regroup as team leader in his own right last year, but asking 18-to 21-year-olds to determine your own level of success is still not an exact science.

And so what did Toledo do for you lately? Wait until the next offensive play, and it just might go all the way. UCLA football on a Saturday night in the Rose Bowl is still a pretty rousing show.

To make him a victim, or even an alleged victim, of this new national sport that has fans and media guessing who might lose their job before the first pass is thrown, is losing all perspective of a college game designed only to entertain.

That’s something I’d expect from a USC fan.

*

IF THE Rose Bowl is serious about bringing an NFL team here, officials better invest in a sound system that can be understood, or ask sideline announcer John Ireland to remove the marbles from his mouth when speaking on the big scoreboards.

*

I HAD the Dodgers eliminated from playoff contention on Feb. 10.

Then again on April 2, and once more on April 4 after three straight defeats against the Giants. I also considered them goners on May 18, June 8, July 24, Aug. 6, 13, 20 and 26. Somewhere in there, I believe I started calling them “choking dogs.” You know, whatever it took to motivate the guys.

So go ahead and add Sept. 7 to the list, because after Saturday’s ho-hum performance against Houston in a 6-1 defeat, our slugs appear once again to be lacking in motivation, offense and the finishing kick to make the playoffs.

*

ONE YEAR ago today the Dodgers fell out of first place in the wild-card race, never to climb back on top. They begin play today with a two-game lead on the Giants with 21 to play, and while they probably still entertain the idea of overtaking Arizona, the Diamondbacks’ magic number (any combination of Dodger losses and Arizona wins) to eliminate L.A. from title contention is 17.

I mention this because I’m not sure Manager Jim Tracy is aware the season is almost over. The Dodgers are a different team--a winning team--with Dave Roberts in the leadoff position, but Tracy rested Roberts so he’ll be fresh when it comes time to golf this off-season, while asking Marquis Grissom to open the game and do what he does best--strike out.

Tracy knows I’m available for consultation, but for some reason he hasn’t called.

*

TYLER HOUSTON is giving Mike Trombley a run for worst mid-season acquisition during the Dan Evans’ era as general manager of the Dodgers. Trombley went 0-4 with a 6.56 earned-run average last season after joining the Dodgers.

Houston went four for four in his Dodger debut, but since then has compiled a .143 batting average. He hit into a double play to end Saturday’s game.

*

JUST THINK if the Chargers were already Our Team and we were waking up excited today for the first Sunday of the NFL season and Our Team was only a 2 1/2-point underdog to the Bungles.

*

TODAY’S LAST word comes from Janeice Imm:

“As a ‘hick’ from Nebraska, I just wanted to respond to your article in The Times that was reprinted in our local newspaper ... “

I guess this confirms the Pony Express reached Nebraska.

*

T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com.