Collision becomes online sensation

A selection of posts from The Times’ sports blogs at latimes.com/sports:

No surprise that the biggest hit of the college football weekend has been a favorite on YouTube for the last 48 hours. But here’s the catch: The forearm that sent South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia sideways wasn’t delivered by an opposing player.

In the second quarter of the Gamecocks’ 24-17 loss to Louisiana State, Garcia took off for the end zone and, cutting left, collided with umpire Wilbur Hackett Jr.

The web-based replays, shot from ground level, make it appear as if Hackett, a former Kentucky linebacker, slid into position and delivered a perfectly timed forearm shiver. . . . “Stephen sort of cut right back into him,” Coach Steve Spurrier told The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C. “Sometimes that will happen.”

Besides, an official inadvertently picked off an LSU defender on yet another play, leading to a South Carolina score.

David Wharton

from “The Fabulous Forum”

‘A’ for effort

The state of Arizona’s inexplicable infatuation with Alabama football continued over the weekend when former Arizona State drill instructor Frank Kush cast the lone first-place vote for the Crimson Tide in the coaching legends’ poll.

Seventeen other former coaches voted Texas No.1

What is it with Arizona and Alabama. Is it because both states begin with the letter “A”?

. . . What Kush sees in these guys we don’t know. The Crimson Tide has won its last two games, at home against unranked teams, by a total of seven points.

Texas, the real McCoy, most recently defeated No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 11 Missouri.

If a player pulled this kind of stunt when Kush was coaching at Arizona State, the no-nonsense coach might have made the kid do bear crawls from Tempe to Scottsdale and back.

Chris Dufresne

from “The Fabulous Forum”

NBA bottom dwellers

The Western Conference is a brutal place, cold and unforgiving . . . But while most of the competition is sinew and gristle, there is a soft, chewy, delicious underbelly on this side of the Mississippi, best represented by three teams that managed to win a combined 64 games in the 2007-08 campaign: The Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies and Minnesota Timberwolves. . . .

First things first: Thunder = Worst. Team. Name. Ever. I’m dreading the weather-related headlines when they play Miami.

Brian Kamenetzky

from “Lakers Blog”

Zenyatta update

Except for Curlin, Zenyatta might be the most compelling horse in the two-day Breeders’ Cup event Friday and Saturday at Santa Anita. . . .

Her owner, Jerry Moss, is the “M” of A&M; Records . . . and the horse was named after the Police’s third album, “Zenyatta Mondatta.” Popular songs on the album include two written by Sting, “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” and “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da.”

In Sanskrit, Zenyatta Mondatta means Top of the World.

Randy Harvey

from “The Fabulous Forum”