Favorite Favors Leinart, but He’s a Bush Backer

UCLA officials brought a woman into the press box at halftime who wanted to meet her favorite sportswriter at The Times.

“I just love your writing,” she told Times columnist Bill Plaschke.

The woman asked whether she could have her picture taken with Plaschke, and Plaschke said, “sure,” while handing me the camera.

I took their picture and told her Plaschke is my favorite columnist too, which is what makes this column so difficult to write today.

Respectfully, Plaschke has no idea what he’s been writing about lately.

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MY FAVORITE columnist has been pushing USC quarterback Matt Leinart for the Heisman Trophy since Oct. 17, and he hasn’t stopped.

Leinart’s a nice kid, and a quarterback. Everybody loves a QB. Most every play starts with the ball in his hand, so it’s easy for folks like my favorite columnist to follow the action. That’s why defensive players never win the Heisman.

Leinart’s super-duper performance against Notre Dame on national TV probably vaulted him to No. 1, because many times the quarterback who plays the best on TV wins. A lot of your Heisman voters are experts, all right, when it comes to watching “SportsCenter” highlights.

Leinart was nothing special against UCLA, not throwing a touchdown pass in a game for the first time in his career, and so I thought we might get a sob story in the paper today from my favorite columnist. But it’s obvious Plaschke has already got his guy pegged as the Heisman winner.

But I have one question for him: Where would the Trojans be right now if they didn’t have Reggie Bush?

Bush has been the Trojans’ momentum changer all season. He saved the Trojans from defeat against Virginia Tech, set up the go-ahead score against Stanford and avoided the upset at Oregon State with a punt return for a score.

Asking folks to vote for Bush, as you know, can be controversial, but make that two questions, Mr. Plaschke: Who wins the UCLA-USC game if Bush doesn’t touch the ball?

“He’s the real deal, which is why he’s up for the Heisman,” said UCLA safety Jarrad Page. “If you were going off today; he’d be the Heisman winner.”

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I KNOW what highlight they’ll be showing if Bush carries more states than most think. On the Trojans’ second offensive play, Bush ran a zig-zagging 65 yards, somersaulting into the end zone and drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when the ref should’ve whispered to Bush, “Young man, that’s one of the most exciting plays I’ve ever seen.”

Bush scored USC’s only two touchdowns and dominated the statistics with 204 rushing yards in 15 carries, and although he put on a show, he said he wasn’t trying to be a showboat.

“I felt people trying to grab my shoes from behind,” said Bush, who later added an 81-yard touchdown run. “I wanted to leap into the end zone, but I guess I got a little high in the air and rolled over like that.”

Bush certified himself as the most exciting player in college football with his performance against UCLA.

As for the Heisman hardware, Bush said, “I might have shook up the votes a little, but I wouldn’t be disappointed if I didn’t win. And probably won’t. I’m only a sophomore, and I have a long career ahead of me.”

Heisman voters have until Wednesday, and the Downtown Athletic Club will invite the top four or five vote-getters to New York. ESPN, which will televise the ceremony, has been promoting the two Oklahoma players (Jason White and Adrian Peterson) and the two USC players (Plaschke’s and Simers’).

“I’d like to be invited,” said Bush, who was standing on a ladder, sword in hand, leading the USC band in song after the game -- just as Leinart did. “I think it’d be a good experience. I’ve never been to New York, and I love to travel. I also like to go shopping. I hear they have some good clothes there.”

(That would have made the perfect Plaschke column -- shopping with the Heisman candidate -- but I guess there’s always next year.)

The thing is, I’ve been writing for weeks Bush should be the Heisman choice, but I’ve been reserved in my campaign efforts because I didn’t want to interfere with my favorite columnist. He has a lot more pull because some people never get past Page 1 of the sports section.

To Plaschke’s credit, he was the first guy to hype Carson Palmer for the Heisman. Palmer then went on to make Plaschke look good, proving he was worthy of winning an award.

This time around, Plaschke’s guy is probably going to win again, which, respectfully, doesn’t make the selection the correct one. It only proves that my favorite columnist has pull that stretches from one end of the country to the other.

But I have a few parting words for my favorite columnist, and they come from Leinart, the guy he’s been pushing to win the Heisman.

“I’ve been saying it all year that [Bush] is the best player and he deserves that trophy,” he said. “He’s the best and most dominant player in college football ... a guy who can change the game with one touch of the ball.”

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USC ATHLETIC director and old friend Mike Garrett will be the featured guest on this morning’s father-daughter gabfest at 9 on XTRA Sports 690/1150.

Garrett will probably tell a few jokes, sing USC’s fight song, and maybe swap some “Fight On” moments that we have shared.

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from STEVE SUSSMAN:

“After the recent verdict against him, is it fair to say that Jose Lima’s enthusiasm is infectious?”

Ouch.

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Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Simers, go to latimes.com/simers.