Letters: Matt Barkley calls his own play

Matt Barkley put off becoming a multimillionaire for a year in exchange for the chance at immortality at USC. That seems like a fair trade-off to me. Most people are content to wait until they see some gray hair before reaching millionaire status. Who knows, maybe Matt’s decision to stay in college for his senior year will become the norm instead of the exception. But whatever happens, Matt Barkley is an exceptional young man.

Tom Turner

Dana Point

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As a Notre Dame fan, I think that Matt Barkley’s decision to come back for his senior year was about the dumbest thing he could have done. As a fan of college sports, I have to admit I’m pulling for the kid.

Brian Gotta

San Diego

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That sound of breaking glass coming from Westwood was surely Jim Mora dropping his coffee cup after hearing the news Matt Barkley is returning.

Steve Owen

San Diego

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No, Bill Plaschke, Matt Barkley did not decide to stay at USC “against all odds,” but against your announced certainty that he would leave. You had calculated “the odds” as if Barkley were an accountant working on a spreadsheet.

You had forgotten what sports announcers call “the intangibles,” that is, what makes Barkley a person and not a list of statistics.

David Eggenschwiler

Los Angeles

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Now that Matt Barkley has elected to remain at USC for one more season I guess we should expect the next announcement will be that the Pac-12 championship game, BCS title game and Heisman ceremony have all been canceled. After all how can anyone expect to be able to compete with “The Comeback Kid” for these titles?

Forgive me, but wake me when Barkley has actually accomplished something, like beating Stanford or Arizona State.

Reid Rose

San Dimas

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Who would Matt Barkley replace as “the greatest Trojan of them all” — O.J. Simpson?

Gerry Swider

Sherman Oaks

Crime time

It looks like what Mike Garrett had to say about the NCAA sanctions against USC is turning out to be true, that he couldn’t help but conclude that the NCAA was jealous of USC.

At the time, I thought he had lost it, but it appears as though time and the NCAA are proving him right, given the one-year bowl ban and the loss of five scholarships over three years that was assessed against Ohio State. While Penn State should get the death penalty for what it didn’t do about what one of its former assistant coaches was up to on the athletic department premises and Miami should lose about 10 years of bowl eligibility, don’t hold your breath.

Mark M. Williams

Pasadena

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Take it from a former English professor. Bill Dwyre [Dec. 21] could use a lesson in vocabulary. Semantics, is commonly used to describe a difference of opinion regarding the meaning of a single term.

The NCAA’s characterization of Ohio State’s misdeeds as a failure to “properly monitor” its football program versus USC’s lack of “institutional control” over its athletic programs is not a difference in the meaning of a term or an idea or a rule, but a difference in actions.

Or have we somehow forgotten the envelope of cash handed to Rodney Guillory on behalf of O.J. Mayo?

Michael Murashige

Pasadena

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Bill Dwyre misstates the case that NCAA penalties were disproportionate in the USC and Ohio State infractions. Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo both, directly or indirectly, engaged in activity with professional sports agents while representing USC. That is a major infraction. Ohio State players, on the other hand, sold jerseys and other memorabilia for cash and/or tattoos. No interaction with agents was involved or alleged. The offenses do not equate. The NCAA acted appropriately.

Skip Nevell

Los Angeles

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As a loyal Bruin, I believe USC got what it deserved. Ohio State, on the other hand, got a hug and cookies from Grandma. The NCAA now officially has less credibility than the BCS.

Brian Lowe

Woodland Hills

Hoops, here it is

Using its own logic, the NBA should have disallowed the Lamar Odom trade because it’s too good for Dallas. The Mavericks got a great player who creates matchup headaches for opponents, and the Lakers got a draft choice for a guy that won’t make the cut. Salary dump? What’s next — pay Miami to take Pau Gasol? Solution: Jerry Buss should buy the Clippers, and sell the Lakers to Magic Johnson.

George M. Pomonik

Calabasas

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One undiscussed effect of Chris Paul’s signing is the beneficial impact that it figures to have on the (offensive) development of DeAndre Jordan. Just think about how productive Tyson Chandler and David West — erstwhile bricklayers of some renown — became after CP3 entered their lives.

The other consequence will be the slowed development of Andrew Bynum. If Bynum had a real lead guard who knew how to run an offense instead of a collection of overrated shooting guards like Derek Fisher who was being played out of position under the mistaken assumption that a triangle offense didn’t need a point guard, Bynum could have averaged 20 points (or even more if their wooden-headed ex-coach would have played him more — especially during fourth quarters, but I digress ...)

The other dark consequence for the Lakers is the sad fact that without a point guard who has Chris Paul’s great skills and forceful personality running the show, Kobe Bryant will continue to hog the ball, and feed Bynum as an afterthought — leading to even more friction between the two of them — vaguely reminiscent of the tension that existed between Shaq and the Black Mamba years ago ...

Clifford Burton

Santa Monica

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Now that the NBA has a new amnesty rule, does that mean that the Lakers are eligible to ask for asylum?

Danny Sanchez

Westminster

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New Jersey Nets center — and Dwight Howard trade centerpiece — Brook Lopez suffered a stress facture in his foot that required surgery. Clearly, this makes the Lakers the favorite now to add Howard in a trade. Why in the world would the Orlando Magic want a center who clearly has a history with injury problems like Lopez when they can have Andrew Bynum?

Tyler Drohan

Glendora

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The one thing that was most apparent thing from T.J. Simers’ Dec. 18 interview with Pau Gasol is what a class act Gasol is.

John Snyder

Newbury Park

Off the grid

Certainly bowl qualification at six wins makes sense — if we are talking about schedules of nine, or, at the most, 10 games. What’s next? America’s Tire Company Blowout Bowl? The Butterfingers Candy Fumble Bowl?

Andrew Sacks

Fontana

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Who cares whether UCLA beats Illinois in a bowl game in San Francisco? The important matchup was Saturday night when the same schools played for the NCAA women’s volleyball championship and the Bruins won.

Gary Wesley

Mountain View

Blue Christmas

Dylan Hernandez is on the money [Dec. 19]. Ned Colletti and the Dodgers’ plan for retooling an ordinary third-place team by surrounding marquee players Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw with low-budget additions reminds me of the guy who decides to keep the old family sedan and upgrade with some spare parts rather than spend a few more bucks for a newer higher quality model. It rarely seems to work out.

Bud Chapman

Northridge

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As the NFL season winds down to the Super Bowl, I was reminded of all the exotic betting opportunities there are including who gets the initial first down, field goal and so on.

Jumping ahead to the baseball season, I wondered what the over/under would be on total home runs for the prospective Dodgers starting infield; Loney, Ellis, Gordon & Uribe?

Wayne Gallegos

Pasadena

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An open letter to anyone thinking of bidding on the sale of the Dodgers:

If the sale does not include the parking lot income and/or having to pay Frank McCourt rent to play in Dodger Stadium, you are fools.

Eric Monson

Temecula

What’s the goal?

Darryl Sutter is an old-school, defense-first coach in the same monotonous mold as Terry Murray, so why would General Manager Dean Lombardi hire this type of bench boss when goal scoring is the obvious problem?

If the Kings fail to make the playoffs after AEG once again misled the fans about a championship roster last summer, Lombardi has just found his successor.

Pat Matzel

Los Angeles

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I hope Darryl Sutter remembered to bring the work boots from his farm. He’ll need them next summer when Tim Leiweke declares that AEG is committed to doing whatever is necessary to win and that the Kings are only one player away from a championship.

Isabella Knell

Rancho Palos Verdes

A winner

Coach Pat Summitt [Dec. 17] is a class act. She’s changing the “face” of Alzheimer’s. Given her tenacity and past accomplishments, I would never bet against her.

Susan Radder

Chino

A loser

Nice to know for once Floyd Mayweather Jr. didn’t win a fight running and ducking. I was beginning to think the judges kept mistaking him for Lindsay Lohan.

Michael E. White

Burbank

To sum up ...

The UCLA football team is going to a bowl game while USC stays home. The Angels are favorites to win the World Series while the Dodgers are hoping for .500 season. And the Clippers are actually expected to win more games than the Lakers. What’s next? Santa Claus delivering Hanukkah gifts?

Brian Greene

Monrovia

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