Minority coaching scene hasn't gotten any better

December 5, 2008

Thought: Notre Dame should keep Charlie Weis. And barring a monumentally terrible season next fall or some ugly off-field issue, he should remain exactly where he is for a good while more. So three cheers for Mr. Weis.

Recent columns

• Jamie McCourt should be thanked for raising some valid questions

  December 4, 2008

  If stirring the pot was what she was after, Jamie McCourt put in quite a performance as she spoke in a stream-of-consciousness way about the balance between her team's player payroll and the money it doles to the community for charity.

• Economy could bring out the bear in sports

  November 23, 2008

  The latest economic news from the sports world presents us with a mixed-up, bipolar scramble.

• USC settles score with Stanford on the ground

  November 16, 2008

  Trojans 17, Stanford 17, all tied up at halftime?

• USC leaves the revenge fantasies to the fans

  November 15, 2008

  Finally, it's payback time.

• For Bruins, essentials are barely there

  November 9, 2008

  Do you see improvement?

• Obama's victory will help inner-city kids look beyond sports

  November 6, 2008

  As the sun rose above Dorsey High School the morning after the election of our new president, the football team joined together in the school's cramped weight room and let out a spontaneous chant: "O-bama! O-bama!" they shouted, "O-bama! O-bama! O-bama!"

• USC's Mark Sanchez gets a feel-good victory

  November 2, 2008

  If only Mark Sanchez could play every game against a school from the northwestern-most state in the Lower 48.

• Angels' Torii Hunter can't get over being squeezed out

  October 29, 2008

  "Truth is, for me as a player, I probably would have let him hit."

• This week, Bruins are the Bad News Bears

  October 26, 2008

  Looked at in a certain very particular way -- granted, with glasses tinted rosy and perhaps a bit of willful naivete -- the 2008 football Bruins are the most exciting team in the Pac-10.

• Don't be so hard on Lakers' Lamar Odom

  October 23, 2008

  Question: Are we unfair to Lamar Odom?

• From the start, no win in Washington State's sails

  October 19, 2008

  PULLMAN, Wash. -- Could be that this is a bit condescending, but honestly, it was hard not to feel a tinge of sorrow for banged-up little Washington State on Saturday.

• Gary Robinson, former Crip, brings peace and football to L.A. park.

  October 18, 2008

  What with all the activity, all the laughing and kids running around and families sitting on park blankets eating turkey sandwiches, this could be the suburbs.

• A USC victory, yes, but it's no keeper

  October 12, 2008

  We figured this would be one of those games where every Trojans fan in the Coliseum goes home with a puffed-out chest and cockiness, certain another national title is on the way.

• Bruins should use this win to build confidence

  October 5, 2008

  First quarter, first play, a kickoff bends into the Rose Bowl air and settles into the arms of UCLA's Terrence Austin.

• Viewed from afar, a fairly decent outing for UCLA's football team

  September 28, 2008

  Sometimes a football coach can outthink himself, muck matters up and cost his team a potential win.

• Progress will be UCLA's most important product

  September 21, 2008

  This time, at least they showed up.

• UCLA forced to do a gut check after sour loss

  September 14, 2008

  Two games into the season for the Westwood footballers and instead of answers all we have after Saturday's debacle is a cloud of questions.

• Quiet, genius at work: Roger Federer wins U.S. Open

  September 9, 2008

  NEW YORK -- We expected a very good match, maybe even a great one. What we got on this warm evening in Queens, save for a few brief moments, was a wipeout.

• Andy Murray ready for Roger Federer

  September 8, 2008

  NEW YORK -- We figured the men's final at Flushing Meadows would be a matter of Roger Federer trying to gain redemption and Rafael Nadal trying to cement his status.

• Roger Federer may be himself again

  September 7, 2008

  That was more like it.

• Elena Dementieva comes undone in U.S. Open semifinal

  September 6, 2008

  NEW YORK -- KerplunkKerplunk.

• He's just not the same old Roger Federer

  September 5, 2008

  Something is wrong. Something is missing. The road is bumpy. The clutch is sticky. The searing hot dominance isn't quite as torrid as it used to be.

• Williams sisters energize U.S. Open

  September 4, 2008

  This felt different, felt special, felt more like opening night at a Broadway show than a pro tennis match.

• New purpose pays off for Elena Dementieva and Mardy Fish

  September 3, 2008

  NEW YORK -- At the U.S. Open, Elena Dementieva has been pummeling tennis balls with the brute force of a battering ram and the ticktock consistency of a metronome.

• In tennis, doubles can be twice as nice

  September 2, 2008

  All match long Monday on the grandstand court at Flushing Meadows, the fans kept rising and screaming, kept cursing and cajoling and shouting to the hot blue sky.

• Halfway through U.S. Open, it's advantage, men

  September 1, 2008

  NEW YORK -- Not to sound like too much of a caveman, but at the halfway mark of the U.S. Open a grand theme has emerged: Men good, women . . . bad?

• Why isn't tennis more diverse?

  August 31, 2008

  NEW YORK -- Don't let the U.S. Open fool you.

• Robert Kendrick tests Novak Djokovic at U.S. Open

  August 30, 2008

  NEW YORK -- For the first 12 games, they played as equals.

• U.S. Open has become a melting pot

  August 29, 2008

  NEW YORK -- If you are big on the idea that America must always be top dog on the block, the U.S. Open will bring about nothing but heartburn.

• Women's tennis is far from being great

  August 28, 2008

  NEW YORK -- There's the usual talk at the U.S. Open about how women's tennis is in great hands, how it's better than ever because the players are stronger and hit the ball with speedier dispatch than ever before.

• A grounded Sam Querrey saves his flashy side for the tennis court

  August 27, 2008

  NEW YORK -- Sam Querrey had just walloped his way to one of the biggest wins of his tennis career but now, a bit later, he couldn't find his coach or his parents.

• Rafael Nadal's strengths show in U.S. Open test

  August 26, 2008

  NEW YORK -- It wasn't supposed to be this tough.

• Rafael Nadal takes over the No. 1 spot in tennis the hard way

  August 24, 2008

  NEW YORK -- It is wholly appropriate that Rafael Nadal come to this city in his effort to twist one last bit of muscle into the hard headlock he now has on men's tennis.

• Leadership expert offers caution to Dodgers, Frank McCourt

  August 23, 2008

  The hometown team was up 1-0 and off to a good start, but in the stands my guest was less interested in Matt Kemp than he was in the Dodgers organization as a whole.

• Dodgers great Maury Wills at peace with a sober reality

  August 18, 2008

  Times change.

• Sky's the limit for Matt Kemp, but stakes rising too

  August 17, 2008

  One of the all-timers, longtime Yankee Don Mattingly, now the Dodgers' hitting coach, listened intently to a simple question.

• Local runner Craig Chambers made path better for others

  August 13, 2008

  He fooled me. Or maybe I fooled myself because I did not want fate to unfold as it did.

• Mark Teixeira stays low-key but has big impact on Angels

  August 10, 2008

  With all the hype surrounding the deal that brought the dreadlocked one to Southern California you may have forgotten that just before the trade deadline the Angels of Orange County made their own blockbuster move. Off went homegrown first baseman Casey Kotchman to Atlanta in exchange for Mark Teixeira, possessor of the powerful bat they've long coveted.

• Role-playing is working out for Lakers

  March 14, 2008

  Dr. David Levy, you've done a fine job giving the Lakers a mental lube job, but we need you again. The end of the regular season draws near, expectations are on the rise, there's talk of a title -- and we're worried.

• Lakers find way to play nice

  December 30, 2007

  Wait a minute! Hold on. What in the name of Sigmund Freud is happening with the Lakers?

• In clinical terms, the Lakers are nuts!

  October 20, 2007

  Ego problems? Check.