I have been advised that to be a well-known
columnist, you have to be angry. Whether it's your
hometown team or their rival, your words have to incite
some kind of ire.
I thought of our circus of a governor's race or a
rant about my senile 60-going-on-21 neighbor, but this
is a sports page, so here's is my angry football
article.
With the second drunk and disorderly player at UCLA
in a month, will there be any sober Bruins left in time
for the Pac-10 season? New coach Karl Dorrell must be
wondering what to do ... hand out media guides at local
watering holes with a DO NOT SERVE sticker attached?
Imagine the fun times that may have transpired if
Mike Price did consider the UCLA job.
Cal needs a defense quick or their season is over.
Their motto seems to be " No good quarterback goes
unpunished."
They could not contain Ell Roberson or Bradlee Van
Pelt. Utah backup Alex Smith had a career day against
them. Now, it gets really tough with Cody Pickett,
Andrew Walters and new studs Matt Leinart and Trent
Edwards in the Pac-10 schedule.
Without cornerback Tim Mixon, Cal's defensive
weaknesses are alarming. The offense is still too new to
bail them out all the time, and with pass-happy Illinois
and USC next, it could be another rotten season in
Strawberry Canyon.
A reminder to all the excessively giddy USC fans
already making reservations for New Orleans: The last
Top 10 undefeated Trojan team got rolled in its
conference opener at Oregon State, and ended up dead
last in the league.
Vanderbilt is closing its athletic department. Having
gone to grade school in Nashville; I was surprised to
hear they even had one. I'm not sure what this will
accomplish unless they need the buildings for office or
dorm space.
If Chancellor Gordon Gee had tried this at his prior
stops -- Ohio State, Colorado -- there would have been
more shock and angry debate, but he might have actually
been hailed for leading reform at big-time football
factories.
Highbrow Vanderbilt is not big time football. This
move comes two schools too late, and at a school where
people simply don't care enough about athletics to be
wowed.
Speaking of Ohio State... So Maurice Clarett is
finally suspended over his April falsified stolen
property report. I almost expected OSU to find a
sex-for-grades blockbuster with the time it took.
Everyone already knew about the false report and the
"borrowed" car. Why yank Clarett around for 5
months? I suspect all the smoke and mirrors meant Ohio
State wanted to keep Clarett eligible and on the team
all along, but were left with this last minute
pick-a-penalty when the NCAA whispered
"forfeit." Or the NCAA or OSU (or both) wanted
to send a message to him and other would-be NFL wonder
kids: We made you and we can break you.
And the talk of Canada is laughable. I was told once
that Hugh McElhenny made less with the early 49ers than
he did in college at Washington. I suspect any Division
1-A school has the same advantage over the
fumbling-toward-bankruptcy CFL.
