Letters: USC fans don’t like losing, defenseless trend

The USC-Washington game was reminiscent of the 2006 Rose Bowl loss to Texas. The famous fourth-and-two play with Reggie Bush on the bench, defense can’t hold, Trojans lose. Against Washington late in the game, third and four, Allen Bradford averaging 11 yards a carry, Washington’s D-line is gassed, so of course we abandon what was working and pass, then miss a field goal, the defense (please excuse the misnomer) cannot hold, the Trojans lose.

Pat Haden take note, the Kiffin family is overrated and underpowered. This is more than a trend. A solid six-win season is within the grasp of the Kiffin family.

Robert J. Gagliano

Palos Verdes

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Its funny being a longtime USC football fan. ... Sitting here watching Stanford vs. Oregon play the same time as USC is struggling against Washington. It seems like the USC game is the consolation game of the World Cup! Wow, how the mighty have fallen. Thanks a lot, Reggie Bush.

Patrick Drohan

Monrovia

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The good news is the postseason ban will be lifted after 20 more games. The bad news is it won’t matter if Lane Kiffin is still the head coach. His clock management at the end of the Washington game was truly incomprehensible. Failing to call any of the remaining three timeouts until the final play was inexcusable. The Trojans would likely have had more than one minute to respond to the Washington field goal if Kiffin had employed those timeouts.

Memo to Kiffin: You can’t take the timeouts to Stanford!

Mark S. Roth

Los Angeles

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Quotes from Lane Kiffin:

“Teams are not intimidated to play us.”

“We could have closed this thing out.”

“Not a situation where I thought it was four-down territory.”

“If you kick a field goal there, now they’ve got to go score a touchdown.”

Kiffin does not exhibit the courage and “we can beat you” attitude of a successful USC football coach. He is businesslike with no spirit. Thus, the team is not intimidating, does not play to win, but hopes not to lose. Kiffin may be a great offensive football mind, but his motivational and leadership skills need vast improvement.

Wayne Muramatsu

Cerritos

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Lane Kiffin says the Trojans are the worst no-huddle defense in all of football. That speaks volumes about the job he and his father, defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, have performed since they were hired to run the football program.

Saturday’s matchup against Stanford will only further expose the charade these snake oil peddlers pulled over on Mike Garrett when he hired them in the first place. Hopefully, Jim Harbaugh will have some sympathy for USC fans and will substitute the Cardinal band members into the game after the first quarter. Maybe then, the Kiffin defense will have some luck tackling the dancing tree and that girl in the white wedding dress in the middle of the field.

Johnathan Colin

Redondo Beach

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After last Saturday’s game, now we know the real reason the Trojans practice two-point conversions.

Howard Mationg

Gardena

Trash talk

I go to a game in the Rose Bowl only once every two years on the average, so I’m no expert, but since I forgot which sand trap I parked next to, I did a lot of wandering after Saturday’s game. What I saw was trash left all over the Brookside golf course — coals from a BBQ dumped onto the grass, beer bottles (whole and broken), and every kind of picnic (tailgate?) trash imaginable.

Why does the city of Pasadena put up with this? On weekdays, when golfing is allowed, is there a local rule for golf balls lodged between a beer bottle and a soda can ?

Gene Miller

Huntington Beach

Missing the point

For all of those who thought Hunter Mahan choked in the final match against Graeme McDowell on Monday, I’d like to turn the page back to the final hole of the final match of the third session on Sunday (Steward Cink/Matt Kuchar vs. the Molinari brothers).

With a 1-up lead going into the par-five 18th, neither Cink nor Kuchar could manage a birdie to halve the hole and earn a full point. Even winning seven out of 12 points on Monday could not overcome that failure of two of the top 24 players in the world on the par-five final hole.

That’s where we gave the Ryder Cup back.

Sam Russell

Newhall

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Maybe a lot of people like Bill Dwyre just drink the Kool-Aid of international competition. The Ryder Cup, like the Davis Cup and most of the Olympics among others, make team sports of individual competition. The fabricated rivalries are intended to stir nationalistic pride for the benefit of sponsors and television (always follow the money). This is in an age of globalization, outsourcing, uncontrollable immigration and “foreign” competitors living in Florida.

Patriotism is the reason we fight jingoistic and phony wars. But the Ryder Cup? Come on.

R.E. Butler

La Habra

Blue haven

The Times deserves a commendation for civility and forbearance in covering the McCourt divorce and Dodgers stories.

Nowhere has the McCourt family been characterized as “Mansion Trash,” nor has their lifestyle been called “piggish self-indulgence.” And the mismanagement of the Dodgers has been described factually and objectively, never characterized as “reckless and irresponsible.”

The Times continues to set and meet a high standard of journalism.

E.P. Macus

Pasadena

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For a long time I have felt the miserable seasons that relief pitchers John Broxton and George Sherrill have suffered have had little to do with their respective arms and everything to do with their stomachs. It is obvious that such bloated waistlines, poorly concealed even by baggy uniforms, significantly hamper the pitching mechanics of each.

It’s high time for both, as highly paid professional athletes and role models to aspiring younger athletes, to take responsibility for improving their poor fitness during the off-season, and stop hiding behind snide remarks or glowering silence in postgame interviews after poor performances.

Randy Cox

Santa Barbara

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The Dodgers probably won’t win many individual awards this year, but Matt Kemp was recently named Man of the Year by the National Assn. of Underachievers.

Richard Turner

Fontana

Own up, Arte

I’m an ardent fan of the Angels. I think they have a great manager and an OK owner, at least compared to the Dodgers. However, Bill Plaschke’s article of Oct. 7 has a few too many Arte Moreno superlatives — “competitive integrity,” “steward of a public trust,” “committed to winning,” “restores our faith” … yadda, yadda, yadda.

His column states that “Moreno steps forward to promise to spend whatever is necessary,” that his team needs offensive threats and an “outfielder who can create runs.” So why was Vladimir Guerrero let go?

Please Bill, curb your enthusiasm.

Ken Kvammen

Newport Beach

Deal with it

Bill Redell’s resume as a high school football coach has been very impressive. But, it seems he has something disparaging (kidding or not) to say about his league, his opponents, sometimes his own players, in every story I read [Oct. 1]. His team devotes massive funding to bring in talent — can’t he accept that Westlake and Alemany are better teams this year?

Kevin H. Park

Encino

Black hole

I saw where the Raiders drew a standing-room-only crowd of 32,000 and change for their game against the Texans.

If the Raiders were still in L.A., we’d be hearing Chris Berman and others talking about the fair-weather fan support in Southern California.

Of course in Oakland, Jacksonville, Cincinnati, Kansas City and other towns where the support has clearly always been there, they get a pass. Instead, we hear things like “You just need to give these fans something to cheer about … they’ll be here.”

Not that I’m complaining about a double standard.

John Fraser

Camarillo

Shape up

Baron Davis needs to lose the beard, the weight and the “I’m in good enough shape” attitude. It’s amazing that the team’s best and highest-paid player comes to camp in “not ready to play” shape. Talk, talk, talk … that is all you hear from Baron. Let’s see the walk.

James Moorman

Corona

Get a cab

What are the odds Brett Favre picked up Randy Moss at the airport this week?

Bryan Cierley

Huntington Beach

Why the long face?

Hey, Frank Stronach, great move giving Oak Tree the boot cross-town. You probably would have had at least 40,000 to 50,000, at your Great Race Place last Saturday for Zenyatta’s SoCal farewell race. At a time horse racing is begging for people and superstars, you singlehandedly managed to send the sport’s biggest attraction in 20 years off with a whimper.

George Hynes

Arcadia

He can’t wait

Andrew Bynum now says he may not play until December. I’m almost afraid to ask, but does he mean December 2010 or 2011?

Ron Tom

Pasadena

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