Everybody’s bowled over

When Pete Carroll shifted gears, his Trojans stepped on the gas, found the passing lane and raced to victory at the Rose Bowl. But honestly, did we not expect Michigan’s Carr would break down in Pasadena yet again?

STEVE ROSS

Sherman Oaks

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Dwayne Jarrett has already turned pro -- he has the T.O. school of taunting down pat. Too bad a player of his talent has to take cheap shots in an otherwise classy performance.

KEN BLAKE

Brea

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I thought Bill Plaschke’s Sunday column regarding USC lineman Kyle Williams was a waste of ink. Plaschke wants us to believe that missing a few blocks and a couple of false-start penalties are devastating to a college football player.

Kyle, you’re just a kid, so please take my word on this. When you enter the real world, away from sports, you’ll realize that the skills you learned in football won’t come close to what’s needed to survive in living your life. Work, relationships, marriage, children, financial stresses, retirement, etc. Any and all of these life adventures will make your concerns about missed blocks seem silly and insignificant.

WILLIAM MICHAEL

Dana Point

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From the tone of Bill Plaschke’s Jan. 2 column, I’m assuming he must be about 15 years old. His blathering man-crush on Pete Carroll is embarrassing: “Pete Carroll spotted this reporter and flung a wet towel at him.”

Wow, Pete Carroll knows who you are! He hit you with a towel! How cool! Maybe he’ll invite you to his kegger this weekend!

ED DRISCOLL

Burbank

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Why is Bill Plaschke so intent on running Pete Carroll out of town? Why is it that in every article Plaschke writes about USC or Carroll, he feels compelled to imply that Carroll will be leaving the Trojans? It’s as if Plaschke believes that if he writes it enough, it will come to pass.

The Trojans fans love Pete Carroll and everything he has done for the football program. And all indications are that Carroll loves USC. There is simply no reason for Plaschke to continuously make predictions about Carroll’s departure. If Plaschke is intent on making predictions instead of reporting news, maybe he’d be better off writing the horoscopes.

BRADLEY H. KRESHEK

Los Angeles

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I feel upset that Plaschke and Simers are suggesting, again, that Pete Carroll will leave USC and jump to the NFL after another great season. They are practically inviting him to go. Let the guy make up his own mind. Besides, why would Carroll, the best coach in college football, want to leave the glory, the legacy and the love at USC for the brutal, ego-driven and brief life of the NFL? He’s been there and done that.

PAUL L. HOVSEPIAN

Sierra Madre

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It’s great that Bill Plaschke got so excited over the Fiesta Bowl, but it’s often not the best advice to write a column in such a state [“Playoff system really isn’t needed after all,” Jan. 3]. Boise State is a great Cinderella story but, shouldn’t they get a chance to go for it all?

Would the Steelers’ upset win over the Colts have been as compelling if the NFL hadn’t allowed them to go on and win the Super Bowl?

JOE STEMME

Culver City

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With all that razzle-dazzle going down at the end of the Boise State-Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl, I was half expecting to hear “Sweet Georgia Brown” come over the loudspeaker and to see the Broncos run over and dump a bucket of confetti on Bob Stoops’ head.

The hapless Sooners were the Washington Generals to Boise’s Globetrotters. And that was one of the greatest football games I ever saw.

JIM MALLON

San Luis Obispo

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About the only thing missing from the Boise State-Oklahoma finish was Al Michaels asking, “Do you believe in miracles?”

DAN ROSENFELD

Arcadia

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And I always thought there was nothing exciting about Idaho. I am now ashamed of my ignorance.

ANDREW SACKS

Fontana

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After watching the only three quality teams on Notre Dame’s schedule -- LSU, Michigan and USC -- all pummel the Irish this season and after seeing them lose their ninth straight bowl game, there can be only three people in America who think this team is not grossly overrated by the media -- Terrell Owens, Kevin Federline and Paris Hilton.

ANTHONY SANTICH

San Pedro

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JaMarcus Russell was impressive, but Jane Russell could complete passes against the porous Irish defensive secondary.

LARRY LASSETER

Brea

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I think the Raiders should take Brady Quinn with the top pick in the draft. Of course, they’d also have to figure out a way to get Army, Navy and Michigan State to join the AFC West.

ROB OSBORNE

Manhattan Beach

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College football season is almost over, so here are two suggestions for next year:

* Have Karl Dorrell watch continuous loops of the end of the Boise State and Oregon State bowl victories to see what happens when you play to win instead of not to lose.

* Have the BCS pair up Michigan and Notre Dame, so at least one of them can finally win a bowl game.

RICHARD TURNER

Fontana

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What is up with television? I couldn’t get into the flow of the commercials because they kept cutting away to the Rose Bowl game. I have no doubt the same thing will happen during the Super Bowl.

MICHAEL KREMER

Fountain Valley

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Michigan-Ohio State. USC-Notre Dame. USC-UCLA. The Rose Bowl. What do they all have in common? ABC sticks us with Brent Musburger for each one.

What are they thinking? I thought the idea was to get people to watch, not turn off the TV.

RICH RUDY

San Diego