Leinart’s Rocky NFL Debut Has Old Roots

Who is to blame for Matt Leinart’s going four for 11 for 49 yards with two sacks in his NFL debut Saturday, a 30-3 exhibition loss by the Arizona Cardinals to the New England Patriots?

Leinart, for holding out until Aug. 14 to become the last player selected in the 2006 draft to sign a contract?

Cardinals Coach Dennis Green, for browbeating the kid into signing and then throwing him to the Patriots as punishment?

The Cardinals, for being the Cardinals?

Or Georgia Frontiere and Al Davis, for moving the St. Louis Rams and Oakland Raiders from Anaheim and Los Angeles in 1995, thus depriving Leinart the chance to actually attend an NFL game before playing in one?

Leinart, who grew up in Orange County, said last week that he had never been to an NFL game. Then he went out and participated in a brand-new experience, a 27-point defeat. Rams and Raiders games during the mid-1990s could have better prepared him for that.

Trivia time: What was the largest margin of defeat Leinart experienced in three seasons as USC’s starting quarterback?

Could have been worse: Despite his struggles, Leinart tightened his hold on the No. 2 quarterback position behind Kurt Warner on Arizona’s depth chart. That’s because John Navarre replaced Leinart at the start of the fourth quarter and completed one of eight passes.

Well done, son: Chris Kirkland’s appearance as goalkeeper for England in Wednesday’s 4-0 victory over Greece was worth $19,000 to his dad.

Ten years ago, Kirkland’s father placed a 100-to-1 bet with British bookmaker William Hill that Chris would play for England’s national team before the age of 30.

William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe told the news service AFP, “We have bets on our books for youngsters to grow up to play football for England, to win medals at the 2012 London Olympics, to win Wimbledon, the [British] Open golf championship and to become world heavyweight champions.

“If only a few of them come off, we’ll be paying out over a million pounds [$2 million]. And after the Kirkland success, we expect to take scores of copycat bets.”

Well done, Dad: Jack Kramer, who turned 85 on Aug. 1, was honored Saturday night at the Regent Beverly Wilshire during a fundraiser for the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Kramer has been a member of the Hall of Fame for nearly 40 years.

“A lot of people thought Jack Kramer was a racket,” said Kramer’s son Bob, who runs the Los Angeles ATP event, the Countrywide Classic. “So it came as a great surprise to me when, at age 14, I learned that he was my father.”

Trivia answer: Three points. Leinart played in two losses during his Trojans career -- a 34-31 triple-overtime loss to California in 2003 and a 41-38 loss to Texas in January’s Rose Bowl.

And finally: When given his turn behind the microphone Saturday, Jack Kramer praised his wife of more than 60 years, Gloria, for hanging in there with him through years of travel, five sons and eight grandchildren.

“I never broke her service once, in all that time,” he said.