Letters: They saw it coming at USC

T.J. Simers credits Chris Dufresne as the master prognosticator who foresaw the demise of the 2009 USC football season even before it started. However, I think the real Nostradamus award should go to none other than Pete Carroll himself, who saw this coming way back on Jan. 15, the day Mark Sanchez decided to turn pro. Now we know why he was so angry.

Ken Swift

Tustin

I never thought I would be saying this about Pete Carroll, but USC’s failures this season can be placed squarely on the shoulders of the coach.

Pompous Pete was the victim of his own success. He thought he could just plug in new assistants and players and the Trojan train would just keep zooming along. He developed a “man crush” on a freshman quarterback and gave him the keys to the corporate jet.

Hopefully this was a learning season for Professor Pete and we play to our strengths next season or else we could be back in the Bluebonnet, the Emerald or Shrimp Fried Rice bowl.

Willis Barton

Los Angeles

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Maybe next year USC can start by losing its first four or five games and then win the rest. At least that way it will look like they are improving as the season goes on, instead of like this year when they got worse every week.

Jack Dietz

Los Angeles

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I have been a USC football season-ticket holder since 1969. A suggestion to Pete Carroll: Kiss and make up with Norm Chow because he hasn’t had an offense since Norm left.

Tim Black

Henderson, Nev.

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Will all due respect to our resident wizards, Dufresne and Simers, it didn’t take a genius to see from the beginning that USC was not going to have a banner season this year. But let’s look a little closer. From 1992 to 2000, the Trojans went 62-44-3. From 2001 to date, they’ve gone 88-15. Sometimes, you just have to wait until next year.

Rodney K. Boswell

Thousand Oaks

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USC football fans need to recognize that the third golden era has ended. For the next five or six years, until Mike Garrett figures it out for himself, the football team will be mediocre or worse every season. We can only hope the next coach will be able to actually coach, in addition to recruiting great players. I only hope I will live long enough to see another golden era.

Steve Dorsey

Carlsbad

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As a regular rider on the bicycle path between Redondo Beach and Santa Monica, I can’t tell you how enjoyable the last couple of months have been, with hardly any of those USC flags in sight. Thanks, Uncle Pete, for showing us the true definition of a front-runner.

Bart Robertson

Torrance

A weakened Tiger

Without addressing the morality of Tiger Woods’ actions or the anticipated loss of endorsements, Tiger’s actions may have cost him a huge competitive advantage. Up until these revelations, Tiger was viewed as Superman. No weaknesses. If Tiger was in the field, everybody else was vying for second place. Now the competition has discovered that Tiger, like a former president, has a weakness for women.

Tiger has gone from icon to freak in the course of one news cycle. At the next tournament, Tiger is going to have to deal with not only the usual hordes of fans, but a large number of paparazzi. Tiger will be scrutinized for all his actions, both on and off the course. This fan’s prediction is that golf is going to see a new No. 1 next year. Thank you, Tiger, for opening the doors to the competition.

Howard J. Kern

Pacific Palisades

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Tiger Woods was never a child. He was a robot programmed to play golf by a demanding father much like Joe Jackson did with Michael. Remember that Andre Agassi recently admitted his hatred of tennis but was forced into it by a demanding parent.

When children, such as the child stars now living in misery, are forced to become adults, they become children when they’re adults.

Anthony J. Frascino

Swedesboro, N.J.

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All of the hand-wringing and worrying if Tiger can rehab his image over this “episode” has me wondering: Maybe this really is the real Tiger and this has revealed his true character.

Michael Jordan’s bellicose Hall of Fame acceptance speech is a case in point. To the people who really know him, from Phil Jackson to Michael Wilbon, they all said that “this is Michael.” So let’s all grow up a little and enjoy a scandal in which nobody died and an arrogant athlete got his comeuppance.

David Perez

Pasadena

Do something

My congratulations to Tony Reagins for being another in a long list of moronic general managers for the Los Angeles/California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

I mean, why bother adding another year to the contract to the most exciting player on your team, let alone one of the best infielders in the league?

I’ll be happy to spend my hard-earned dollars to watch a .192 hitter with a .222 on-base percentage play third base because some idiot in the front office can’t add three plus one.

First Garret, then Frankie, now Figgy. Buzzie Bavasi can rest in peace because he has some competition for the most incompetent GM in Angels’ history.

P.A. Lutgen

Riverside

Do something II

Dylan Hernandez’s article on the “cash poor” Dodgers appears to be intended to lower the fans’ expectations on any off-season moves. I frankly do not believe they are cash poor.

With at least 3.5 million in attendance at an average of $25 a ticket, and those same 3.5 million spending a measly $10 for food or drink, that totals at least $122 million. I’m not including parking, souvenirs, television and radio money both local and nationally.

What are the McCourts doing with all this cash? Oh yeah, paying for divorces, buying four homes in L.A. and Malibu, paying themselves ridiculous salaries, along with their kids. Open up your books Frank and I’ll hire a CPA to determine if you are cash poor.

Steve Owen

San Diego

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Ned Colletti’s statement that he has no regrets about not offering arbitration to departed Dodgers ace Randy Wolf says one of two things: Colletti either cannot admit a mistake or the Dodgers have a general manager who has no idea what it means to offer arbitration.

Darren Pollock

Los Angeles

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If you were the agent for Ethier, Kemp and Loney, would you tell them to sign a long-term deal with this organization right now?

Charles L. Freeman

Baldwin Hills

BCS stress

You could just imagine the Big 12 brain trust putting their collective minds together: “Do we really crown mediocre Nebraska our conference champion or do we send Texas to the BCS championship and claim a gazillion dollars for our league. Let’s think about this. It should just take a second.”

Rick Wallace

Malibu

Role models?

Rick Neuheisel calls timeout. Pete Carroll taunts his opponent while running up the score. . . . Brian Kelly abandons his undefeated team. May we finally dispense with the conceit that football builds character?

Bill Sampson

Malibu

That’s a relief

UCLA’s basketball team will have no problem this year with players leaving early for the NBA.

Karl Schlichting

Walnut

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