Views, views, and more views…   
  Well, before I get started, thank you to fellow web site contributor, the ever brilliant Paul Cass, on a column he wrote back a couple of weeks ago for congratulating me on actually being right on my opinion of Alex Rodriguez. Paul, thank you but after all, being on the same site as Dave Smith gives you and I PLENTY of opportunities to sound informed and intelligent. And, in the end, after reading our paychecks, we are not as smart as we think…
  It’s been a long break for the View, as I took off with my daughter on a drive to some of California’s finest universities and some out of state schools, as she enters her senior year of high school. Damn, seems like just yesterday she was in first grade and then she was in middle school asking me for help with her homework. Now she proofreads my columns to make sure I don’t screw them up too badly. She used to read Dave’s back in the day when he used to contribute and would always ask, “Dad, doesn’t he know how to use Grammar or Spell Check?”…
  Anyway, some quick views on what has happened in sports in the last month…
IT’S HERE— College football arrived this weekend and as much as I love USC football, I expected a big win over Virginia, though 52-7 was much more than I thought. While Mark Sanchez, Rey Maualuga, Joe McKnight, Brian Cushing and friends have jumped back to # 1 in the coaches polls after the impressive win, it’s pretty hard to not to see that the big story was UCLA’s huge win over traditional SEC powerhouse Tennessee in Rick Neuheisel’s Bruin debut. Most experts looked at Tennessee’s returning offensive line and their typical SEC athletes and thought the inexperienced Bruins would be cannon fodder. But Neuheisel proved his most important recruits were keeping defensive coordinator De Wayne Walker in house and getting offensive mastermind Norm Chow to run his attack. With spirited efforts from his defense and special teams, UCLA dis what it wanted to do—keep the game close, get its’ players to believe, and then Kevin Craft, who looked like a high school JV quarterback in the first half, turned into Joe Montana in the second half and led the Bruins to two big drives and the eventual overtime win…
   UCLA’s defense looked fast and aggressive, and Tennessee looked like they were in shock. This was a huge win for Neuheisel and the program, and I don’t mean to take away from a UCLA team that truly deserved this win, but as much as anything, the game showed once again that while the SEC has better players, its’ coaches are definitely lacking…
  The Tennessee team’s strength was its’ veteran, mammoth offensive line, and the post game statistics showed the Vols running for over 170 yards and a 5 yard plus per carry average. Yet the new offensive coordinator Dave Clawson, fresh from that football factory Richmond, looked intent on throwing the ball, and his line looked woefully inept trying to block UCLA’s speed rushers. UCLA, which has one of the best defensive tackle combinations in the country with Brian Price and Brigham Harwell, was putting on a lot of pressure up the middle, and Clawson never moved his quarterback out of the pocket and out of harm’s way. As a USC fan, it was painfully reminiscent of the way Walker out coached young Trojan play callers Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian in UCLA’s big upset two seasons ago…
  Vol head man Phil Fullmer has had a pass since the Vols won a national title 10 years ago, one of those accomplishments you can never quite figure out, but now that pass should be over. Too many times in recent seasons when his team has trailed, Fullmer has a worn a dazed and confused look, and it was on full display Monday night. UCLA got to see what it was like to have Karl Dorrell on the other sideline!  I think old Phil is on the clock in Knoxville…
  Maybe Tennessee wasn’t as good as advertised, UCLA was definitely better, and, either way, the Pac 10 had a big win over the SEC. 
Top 5 from The View- 1) USC (from actually going on the road and winning against a BCS school) 2) Georgia 3) Ohio State 4) Florida 5) Alabama
  Closing In- Oklahoma (penalized for playing Chatanooga. Chatanooga?) Missouri, Fresno State, LSU, and UCLA
  Most Intriguing Game Of The Week- Florida vs. Miami
  
The OLYMPICS-  Finally, the Olympic Games have come and gone with some truly electric moments. The 4×100 IM relay in which American swimming veteran Jason Lezak beat trash talking Frenchman Alain Bernard, the world record holder, on the anchor leg, which preserved Michael Phelps’ run to an unprecedented 8 gold medals, was maybe the most exciting Olympic event I have ever seen.
  We can agree to disagree on whether Phelps is the world’s greatest athlete but there is no denying what he accomplished was incredible. When it was announced he would be entered in 8 events and that the goal was to win every event, the pressure on Phelps AND his teammates was intense. I was thinking, that, going into his last swim, if he had lost, would he actually be considered a failure for not coming through? His performance was one for the ages.
   Also burnt into the memory of all of us is the aptly named Usain Bolt. The guy was an absolute freak, setting world records while winning gold medals in the 100 and 200 meter sprints and another in the 4×100 relay.
   And, unlike the stodgy old Bob Costas, I was hardly upset by Bolt’s joyous display at the end of the 100 meter sprint when he turned around at the end of the race and coasted the last 10 meters with arms raised. Costas thought Bolt disrespected his opponents and when analyst Ato Bolden at first said he didn’t think it was all that bad, Costas actually shamed Bolden into agreeing with him. I kept hearing people were upset that he didn’t race until the end and shatter the world record by even more than he did. Hey, his goal was to win, and he did!
  Also, IOC President Jacques Rogge was just as incensed about Bolt, saying that he “did not act in the spirit of the Olympic Games.” Okay, Mr. Rogge, Bolt’s actions may have rubbed you the wrong way, but how about commenting about how the actions of the host country, China, and the way their policies are not in the spirit of human rights? Jacque Rogge is the perfect example of “hypocrite”…
  The Redeem Team did their job, and it was nice to see American basketball players restore class and some humility to our sport. Dwyane Wade was the MVP, and Kobe Bryant did what Kobe does best—take over in a close game when it was needed. A couple of players whose stock was raised in the eyes of American fans were Chris Bosh and Tayshaun Prince. I also guess I wasn’t the only Laker fan who wondered where Pau Gasol found all the toughness he displayed in the two games for Spain against the Americans as opposed to the toilet tissue softness he showed in the NBA Finals against Boston.
  Oh, and for any Laker fan who is counting on another NBA Finals appearance next season, I hope you got a look at Spanish player Rudy Fernandez, who looked like a more athletic and skilled player than Argentina’s and Spurs guard Manu Ginobili. Fernandez will be playing for Portland next season, and with Fernandez and Greg Oden joining a young, very athletic Blazer team, the Lakers’ job got a LOT tougher. Fernandez’ posterizing of Dwight Howard on a power dunk in the finals was a glimpse into the future…
DA BUMS-  Dave loves to poke fun at Dodger Fan, referring to them as Raider Nation, with all the hoodlums and thugs that seem to gather at the stadium. While this description of their fans is pretty close to accurate, what should bother the Dodgers is that their team is, painfully, a baseball version of that football team up north.
  The recent struggles of the Raiders have come as a result of bad front offices decisions, signing big name, but past their prime, players, who have not delivered, and are looking to basically cash out on their careers. You mix that together with younger players who have promise but see that these fat cats are taking their playing time, and you have a recipe for disaster, making for a volatile locker room, which means bad results on the field.
   That, in a nutshell, is the Dodgers. Frank Mc Court is another version of Al Davis, more in love with the image than the product, and he and Ned Colletti have signed players like Nomar Garciaparra, Andruw Jones, Juan Pierre, Jason Schmidt, and Luis Gonzalez, among others, who are near the end of their career and are not producing, and don’t like the idea of helping out younger players, who they feel are disrespecting their ability. In turn, players like James Loney, Matt Kemp Andre Ethier, and any of the young Dodger third base prospects feel like their playing time is being taken by guys who are only out in the field to justify their big paychecks. It makes for big time drama, and small results. The Dodgers acquired the great Manny Ramirez, and all of a sudden they were being hailed as World Series contenders, yet, even the heroics of Manny can’t disguise their deficiencies, and they are under .500 since his arrival. Only the inept play of the Arizona Diamondbacks is keeping the Dodgers’ postseason hopes alive. If you watch these teams and this division, and you should only have to out of punishment, you come away with the very real thought, that, for the first time, a team will be in the post season with a losing record.
   The Dodgers, for all the PR hype, are nothing more than an average team, in fact, below average. They do what all-average teams do. At home they look good and compile impressive win streaks. They will excite their fans as they did recently with a 4 game home sweep over East contender Philadelphia and win a series against Central contender Milwaukee. Then they go out and get swept by Philadelphia, totally negating what they did at home. Then they did the unimaginable—get swept by the Washington Generals, er, Nationals, the very worst team in baseball. The Nationals are playing out the string, and have a roster compiled of players you have never heard of. But they swept the Dodgers, who are in the midst of trying to win the NL West? And, then, the Dodgers head into Arizona and in the first game of a crucial series, their veteran (washed up?) shortstop Garciaparra makes two errors on routine plays and the team gets crushed. After 7 innings, I noticed that 2/3 of the defense basically walked onto and off the field, looking like they either don’t care or have quit. I make no secret that I’m no Dodger fan, but I was embarrassed. It was that bad. Of course, the team then went on to beat Arizona’s two best pitchers to stay in the race, but the biggest reaon they are in the race is because they have just added by subtraction…
   Adding by subtraction, you ask? Let me present Jeff Kent, a guy who does the unimaginable—make Barry Bonds lovable. The other day Vin Scully pointed out the obvious, that the addition of Ramirez has made Kent a better hitter, and Kent got all upset. And, when Manny Mania was subsiding, and the Dodgers returned to their .500 ways, when some media went into the locker room, according to reports, Kent was almost gleeful when he chided the writers, “See, you guys had us going to the World Series, huh?” It almost seemed he was glad because they were losing. Wow, what a d*ck1 By the way, Kent’s emergence after the Manny acquisition reminds me of something—can he please return the 2002 National League MVP to its’ rightful winner, Barry Bonds? Kent borrowed that award and it’s time he returned it. Is it any wonder that since Kent was injured that the Dodgers have started winning?…
   Another reason for the Dodgers’ woes is their manager, Joe Torre. Amid all the hoopla of Torre’s hiring, people seemed to forget that, with some REAL talent, he hasn’t delivered in many years. He is fitting right in with the Dodger vets, cashing a check and sleeping on the job. The proof of this was a recent nationally televised game. In the late innings of a close game (which they, naturally, lost) Andre Ethier was up to the plate with a 3 and 2 count, and the next pitch was called a ball. The umpire lost track of the count. The announcers pointed out it was ball four. Ethier said something to the ump, but was told to stay in the box. Finally the next pitch was a ball, and he was awarded first base. Where were Torre and his coaching staff? In a very crucial situation, they just weren’t paying attention.
That is inexcusable.  And that is the Dodgers.
Yet, in  the horrible National League they will contend and maybe even win and get into the playoffs. And that, too, is inexcusable.
  By the way, have the Angels

LEFTS AND RIGHTS- I used to have a friend named Danny, who passed away some time ago, who, after he had a little alcohol in him, was in the mood for lovin’ or fightin’. He could literally charm the pants off of some of the nicest women you’d see, but if there were no women around in a bar, he would usually end up fighting with anybody who gave him what he perceived to be “the wrong look”. I loved the guy, but it got old real quick, dragging him out of bars before he would start throwing blows.
  He always used to tell me that he loved to fight the bigger guys, because there was nothing to lose, except maybe, your consciousness, and that the fights were over quickly, he got them or he got nailed. Most of the time, the combatants ended up buying the other a drink before the night was over, just “boys being boys.”  He would tell me that he tried to avoid the smaller guys, the ones with the chip on their shoulder, because they didn’t hit hard enough to knock you out, but they would battle and battle, and it wasn’t worth it, losing a fight to a little guy.
  I bring this up because Oscar De La Hoya is going to test my late friend’s theory, and he will find out it is true when the smaller, but faster, and hard hitting Manny Pacquiao embarrasses him in las Vegas on December 6…
   De La Hoya took a lot of grief from boxing aficionados when he announced, as his alleged final bout, that he did not want to face another Mexican, the strong and constantly attacking Antonio Margarito. I can see why Oscar turned down this wrecking machine, because the 15 or so million dollars he stands to make may not be worth the physical beating he would most certainly get. But his decision to fight Pacquaio will be one that he may come to really regret. At age 35, Oscar will be going down in weight to take on Manny, and though the Filipino superstar is coming up, he is younger, faster, and, most important, hungrier. This fight points to disaster for De La Hoya.
  At this point in his career, De La Hoya is fighting for the money, not the greatest inspiration, and Pacquaio is fighting for history. Oscar walks around at probably 170 pounds and will have, at 35, 3 months to get to 147 pounds, and be more worried about making weight than getting into fighting shape while Pacquaio will have 3 months to add muscle while losing little quickness. And, in what may be a first, when Oscar steps into the ring he probably won’t even be the crowd favorite. The adoring Filipino fans that follow Pacquaio will be out in full force and throat and will be joined by the anti Oscar Mexican fans who think he is trying to avoid the threat Margarito presents to pick on a little guy and will be fully behind the action warrior. They will love to see the Pretty Boy get his comeuppance, and he will. Even in his prime, De la Hoya, for all his natural skills and the money he has made, never reached his potential partly because he never defined what type of fighter he was, but mostly because his penchant for tiring in a fight.
  When Pacquaio gets past the first 3 rounds and De la Hoya, who has only knocked out human punching bag Ricardo Mayorga, and lost more than he has won in recent years, starts to tire, the Filipino will hit Oscar more than he has ever been hit. Oscar has stated this is his last fight, and only his great will, which, no one can question, not  even the “Chicken De La Hoya” haters, may keep him erect as his legs and reflexes begin to betray him. Pacquaio will win by big decision or late stoppage, and I get the feeling, that, as his face puffs up and he keeps getting hit in the 10 th round, Oscar may be thinking, “Damn, this guy never stops. I should have fought the bigger guy. It would already be over.” And people would have respected him more…

See you soon…