ALEX GAIf you watch one sporting event this weekend. . .
USC at Washington (Saturday, 5 p.m., Channel 7): The Angels are fine-tuning for the playoffs. The Dodgers are asking, playoffs? What alien language are you speaking? Our old NFL teams, the Rams and the Raiders, are feeling the effects of new and improved voodoo needles. Our de facto NFL team, USC, is ranked No. 1 in the land of college football and until further notice, the Trojans are required viewing for the serious SoCal sports viewer.
Washington, 2-2 after losing last week's offensive free-for-all with UCLA, isn't expected to put up much of fight; USC is favored by 20 1/2 points. Always of interest for local fans, however, is how Pete Carroll divides the carries among his 1,386 former high school All-American tailbacks, and how far John David Booty can go in this year's Heisman Trophy race by completing 38 handoffs a game.
If you have time for two. . .
California at Oregon (Saturday, 12:30, Channel 7): Memo to Les Miles: The Pacific 10 Conference, a.k.a. the Cupcake Factory, has three teams in the Associated Press top 11 -- and two of them, No. 6 Cal and No. 11 Oregon, match 4-0 records in Eugene. The LSU coach might want to get a tape to see how football is played here on the Left Coast in the 21st century. And have an intern armed with a calculator sit in on the film session. Combined, the Golden Bears and the Ducks are averaging 90 points.
Rounding out the top five. . .
Ducks vs. Kings (Saturday, 9 a.m., FSN Prime Ticket; Sunday, 9 a.m., Versus): The Stanley Cup champion Ducks (it's still a little jarring typing those words) and their big-brother lugs open the 2007-08 NHL season with two games in London's O2 Arena. Curious Brits are wanting to know, "You mean this is what we got in return in the Beckham deal?" (Important note: O2 is the name of the arena's corporate sponsor, not the Kings record after this visit.)
Presidents Cup (Today, 9 a.m., TNT; Saturday, 5 a.m., 1 p.m., Channel 4; Sunday, 9 a.m., Channel 4): The Presidents Cup, a four-day match-play golf competition that pits the U.S. against an international team, exists for the betterment of self-esteem among American golfers suffering from post-Ryder Cup Syndrome. So far, the therapy is working: The U.S. is 4-1-1 in previous Presidents Cup matches.
