Beats

Bobby Knight, what happened? BRETT JOINER Upland

I have to question the journalistic integrity of Times staff writer Elizabeth Mehren and her editors for their decision to write and publish the article, "Questions Shadow Dukakis Anew" (View, Nov. 10). The first five paragraphs of the article read like something that would be found in People magazine, or worse yet, the National Enquirer. Writing speculative questions and second-guessing the cause of an individual's personal problems do not provide readers with factual information, which is the writer's responsibility.

Ryan Malone scored at 2:21 of overtime, giving the Tampa Bay Lightning a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night. Malone tapped in an awkward shot that bounced over Jonas Gustavsson moments after John Mitchell nearly won it for the Maple Leafs on a pretty rush, with the puck nearly taking another funny hop into the goal. Malone's goal stood up after a video review. Vincent Lecavalier also scored for the Lightning (5-4-4), who won their first road game of the season (1-4-1)

Trailing, 9-7, at halftime in the East L.A. Classic, Los Angeles Roosevelt turned to the versatile Manny Ayon to ignite its offense, and the Roughriders (8-1, 5-0) went on to claim a 28-16 victory over Los Angeles Garfield (4-5, 2-3) before close to a capacity crowd at East Los Angeles College. Ayon, normally a wide receiver, was inserted at quarterback in the third quarter. He responded with 111 yards rushing and a touchdown. Elgin Rosales of Roosevelt had 112 yards rushing to help Roosevelt clinch at least a share of the Eastern League title.

The tone had been set by the opening kickoff. That's when Anaheim Servite's Christopher Nicholls opened the game with a 76-yard kickoff return from the Friars' six-yard line. It was only the beginning of a big night for Nicholls, who ran for three touchdowns in Servite's 38-28 victory over No. 15 Encino Crespi Friday at Cerritos College. The Friars, ranked No. 2 in the Southland by The Times, are 3-0 and captured their first victory over the Celts after losing the last two games involving the teams.

There are so many prolific offensive weapons for Gardena Serra quarterback Conner Preston to work with that Coach Scott Altenberg has to warn him to stop trying to produce a touchdown on every play. "It's not going to happen," Altenberg tells Preston and Serra fans. That doesn't mean the Cavaliers can't put together offensive highlights worthy of a SportsCenter viewing, such as Friday night, when Paul Richardson Jr. made two acrobatic catches for touchdowns, Domonique McGee broke off a 62-yard touchdown run and Preston displayed a level of toughness critical for a championship run. It all came together in a 27-17 victory over No. 18-ranked Carson in a game that was physical, hard fought and full of fast, versatile athletes.

What did UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero do, get his football and basketball coaches at a two-for-one sale? Karl Dorrell almost beats USC and lays an egg against WAC opponent Wyoming. Ben Howland almost beats Arizona, then gets embarrassed by an overachieving Stanford team (the eighth time in a row at Pauley, no less). Key word, guys: "almost." Patrick McMahon Hermosa Beach