Letters: Aftermath of a USC upset

In the aftermath of USC’s stunning failure at Stanford, Lane Kiffin declared competition open when he admonished one of his young offensive linemen: “We’ve got standards and expectations here and his effort in that game did not meet those.” Trojans fans left dumbfounded by curious play-calling, suspect schemes and the tactical adjustments not made while his team was being beaten and bullied silly at the line of scrimmage would tell him the same thing applies to coaching.

Steve Ross

New York

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USC has a tradition of successful, affable coaches — McKay, Robinson, Carroll. We do not need a boorish Urban Meyer clone, who is furthering his Oakland and Tennessee reputation. The “man” needs to grow up.

Bob Therrien

Mission Beach

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Hey, Lane Kiffin, just a thought, but when your offensive line is getting their butts kicked and the defensive line is living in your backfield, how about the wild thought of actually moving the quarterback with a rolling pocket?

Maybe you should actually think about making changes at halftime that will assist your team in making adjustments to help negate Stanford’s strength superiority. It’s time for people to realize that you are just over your head when it comes to matching wits with the truly good coaches in major college football.

Bruce Olson

La Verne

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This game was completely backward and wrong. Isn’t it USC that is supposed to have linemen who dominate both sides of the line of scrimmage, star linebackers, overly aggressive defensive backs and a running back good for 200-plus yards? Isn’t it Stanford that is supposed to have the glamour boy quarterback, a couple of flashy receivers, and nothing else? And don’t NCAA rules require that at least one of the two teams have a field goal kicker?

John Heaney

Santa Clarita

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It’s a good thing we went through all that hand-wringing over Alabama leapfrogging our beloved Trojans in the polls a couple of weeks ago.

Craig L. Dunkin

Los Angeles

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At this time, the question seems not “Is Barkley the best player in the nation?” but rather “Is Barkley the best quarterback in Los Angeles?”

Joe Notarangelo

Grand Terrace

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Matt Barkley came back to USC because of some “unfinished business.” Now we know what it is, lose to Stanford four straight years. Mission accomplished.

Fer DiLeva

San Pedro

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So Matt Barkley still likes USC even after last week’s loss. Great topic, Plaschke. I would like the world to know that after an extremely rough last week I still have a zest for back massages and prime rib dinners.

Frank Ryan

Newport Beach

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Just before the college football season began, I wrote that as a UCLA alumnus I was really looking forward to this season because UCLA had no place to go but up and USC had no place to go but down. I had no idea that the season would be so bright for me only three weeks in. I love it, I love it.

Martin A. Brower

Corona del Mar

On to baseball

I am not sure who made the worse call Saturday — Mike Scioscia for pulling a still strong and dominating Zack Greinke with two outs remaining or Lane Kiffin for unbelievably running Curtis McNeal up the middle with less than a minute to play. And these are our very best decision makers?

Jim B. Parsons

Canyon Lake

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Jerry Dipoto probably will pull a “Mickey Hatcher” if the Angels miss the playoffs and force out Mike Butcher in the next few months, leaving Mike Scioscia no more excuses for next season. Can anyone say Terry Francona in 2014 if the Angels don’t produce in 2013?

Ken Blake

Brea

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Mr. Colletti, can we get one more trade? Don Mattingly for Kirk Gibson. Might be interesting to see what would happen if guys were afraid to come back to the dugout after striking out in the bottom of the ninth.

Scott Coe

Lompoc

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If the Dodgers’ high-paid “superstars” would do the following three things, they would have no problem getting to and winning the World Series.

1. Stop swinging at balls in the dirt for strike three.

2. Stop standing with their bats on their shoulders while being called out on strike three.

3. Ask Luis Cruz how to hit.

Russell Morgan

Carson

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It would appear that at least part of C.J. Wilson’s success while pitching for the Texas Rangers is that he never had to pitch against the Texas Rangers.

On a bit of a reverse note, is that the way Albert Pujols ran the bases in St. Louis?

Ron Reeve

Glendora

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How is it that a rookie (Mike Trout) can run perfect routes and make spectacular, home-run-robbing catches regularly, when a veteran (Matt Kemp) just keeps smashing his head against the outfield wall and not catching fly balls? Could someone please tell Kemp the meaning of “warning track”?

Bob Fiedler

Glendale

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Is it just a coincidence that the Angels started hitting after they fired Mickey Hatcher and the Dodgers stopped hitting after they signed him as a consultant?

Wayne Kamiya

El Segundo

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It wasn’t just that “Braun’s Brewer’s advanced to the playoffs” last year, as Bill Shaikin wrote Sunday. Matt Kemp fans may have whined, but when Ryan Braun came off the disabled list after the All-Star break, they proceeded to go 30-5 and run away with the division while Braun tore up the league. They’d be playoff-bound this year if their closer hadn’t blown seven saves in the first half, but as they make a late charge, there’s Braun again, leading or at the top of every major offensive category. They may not get there, but that’s what makes an MVP.

Mitch Paradise

Los Angeles

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Nice work, Pac-12. I have a thousand channels and none them are the Pac-12 Network. Good luck with those Heisman campaigns. The 14 people who can actually watch your games should generate lots of buzz.

William David Stone

Beverly Hills

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Don’t blame the television stations for trying to make money from college football shows by running too many commercials. It’s the colleges who get most of the money with fat contracts for putting on the show, using their underpaid shamateurs. The colleges don’t care about football — they’re in it for the dollars.

Arthur O. Armstrong

Manhattan Beach

AEG whiz

Winning L.A.’s first Stanley Cup was tremendous, but the Kings deserve an owner who views the team like a fan and not just as an asset to monetize. Bonus points for actually being seen at a game, speaking to the media and knowing that Kopitar is your star center and not a European automobile.

Bella Jones

Santa Monica

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This is not about prognostication but what makes the most business sense.

No question AEG owns some prime real estate and trophy properties that including a championship ice hockey team. But moving from that to a new owner who will also commit to building a new football stadium is a big leap.

It will cost billions just to purchase all of AEG or even just some of its properties. Not included in the purchase is at least another billion dollars to build a football facility, make the addition to the convention center and other required improvements.

It will require a huge revenue stream to support all of that or you end up the same as the Tribune purchase of the Los Angeles Times.

The Dodgers had a built-in revenue stream and the potential for much more.

Properties with huge value on paper don’t necessarily provide such a steam and this will be a huge financial outlay. Show me the numbers.

Michael Solomon

Canoga Park

Locked out

It’s convenient to blame NHL boss Gary Bettman for the current labor unrest, but the 30 NHL owners employ him to do their public bidding. How these businessmen can be titans of industry in their respective fields but so utterly incompetent when it comes to matters of sport is truly baffling.

The billionaires who empower Bettman need to get the players out of the boardroom and back on the ice where they belong. Trusting that the loyal fan base will return no matter how long this mess drags out could well be their final miscue.

Warren Andrews

Northridge

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Great nicknames have always been part of hockey lore. Now to the likes of “the Great One,” “the Rocket” and “the Golden Jet,” we can add “Lockout Bettman.” To show our appreciation to this three-time lockout specialist, fans should not appear at one game per team this season or whenever there is a season. An entire empty arena to honor this commissioner, priceless.

Bruce N. Miller

Playa del Rey

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With yet another pointless lockout on his watch to add to his many other head-scratching decisions, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has to be enshrined in some sort of Hall of Fame upon his (hopefully imminent) retirement. Is there a Destroyers section?

Andrea Watt

Torrance

Men in stripes

For everybody out there who thinks the NFL replacement referees are a disaster, I have one question: Have you watched any NBA games recently?

Mike Hoff

Long Beach

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