Bowling

UCLA and Steve Alford. A basketball program of unmatched pedigree led by a former prodigy who became a national champion and Olympic gold medalist before making a steady climb up the coaching ladder. On paper, a harmonic convergence. How they came together, a choreography of those themes, would make for a dazzling introduction, which UCLA held at center court in historic Pauley Pavilion last month. The aura of John Wooden, his contributions to sports and society -- and those 10 national titles -- was thick.

The NFL will celebrate its 50th Super Bowl in Northern California, where its newest, most high-tech venue is being built. That makes South Florida, in the midst of a spat over expensive stadium renovations, a loser for the 2016 game. And Miami took a double defeat when Houston was awarded the 2017 championship game. In separate votes, NFL owners Tuesday went with the San Francisco Bay Area and Houston on the first ballot at their spring meetings. The 49ers' new home is set to open next year in Santa Clara and will host the first Super Bowl in the area since 1985.

Darlene, Bob, Betty and Chuck--their names remain enshrined in embroidery on old bowling shirts. Little did they suspect that those bowling shirts, with their tacky ads for Al's Diner and the Corner Bar stitched on back like miniature billboards, would someday be treasured as quaint souvenirs from America's happy days. After all, "bowling shirts are not good looking," says Donna Saucedo, who nevertheless owns 20 of them.

Pete Parsons was on a roll Wednesday in Arcadia. Not only was he glowing from bowling a 204 game at Baldwin Avenue's AMF Bowling Square Lanes, he was rolling strikes for his three-person team, the Strivers. And, oh yeah: Parsons took time out to cut his 98 t h birthday cake and serve up pieces to the 66 members of his bowling league. He shrugged off both his age and his 204 game. "I've been bowling for 40 years and then some," said the former San Gabriel business broker.

The gig: Gary Yamauchi, 67, owns Tri-Star Vending, one of the largest independent vending companies in the Los Angeles area, with yearly sales of about $2 million. He's also an Alhambra councilman, a position that earns him $875 a month. "In my wildest dreams, as a kid, I never had thoughts of becoming an elected official," but he takes pride in doing hands-on community service, said Yamauchi, who also has served as the city's mayor. "If somebody has a pothole in their front yard or a tree is falling down, they call me. I get it done in two days.

Billy Meyer Jr., a senior at Arcadia High, won $50,000 at the Super Bowl High Rollers tournament.

LAHORE, PAKISTAN -- Back in the warrens of Lahore's old city, the boys and young men don't seem too worried about whether American politicians (Hillary Rodham Clinton) or American newsmagazines (Newsweek) think Pakistan might be the most frightening country in the world. Emergency rule doesn't seem to have changed the nightly routine much either. On Noor Street after dark, the cricket bats still come out, an old metal wicket gets set up, and spin bowlers show their stuff to the neighborhood.

Alley--This word has been declared politically incorrect by defenders of the sport's image--the term now is bowling center. Brooklyn--A strike made when a right-handed bowler's ball hits the left side of the head pin, or a left-hander's ball hits the right side of the head pin. Casino bowling--A number of colored pins (usually three) is added; prizes of cash or Blue Chip stamps are awarded according to specific pin combinations knocked down.

The Clippers recently went bowling in Norwalk to help raise money for their charitable foundation. It was a fun day for the team, a respite from the intensity of the condensed 66-game NBA schedule. The day began with some friendly trash talk between Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, the two top bowlers on the Clippers. Said Griffin: [Paul] is pretty good, but at his bowling event my team won. So I will let that speak for itself.

Even before his victory in the Louisiana primary on Saturday, the map of states won by Rick Santorum covered a huge expanse of the nation's midsection, from the Deep South to the Canadian border, from the Appalachians to the Rockies. His main target now is Wisconsin, and Santorum's pitch here is largely cultural: I'm like you. To celebrate his landslide win in Louisiana, Santorum joined supporters at a Green Bay tavern, where he drank Dark Helmet Schwartzbier with his burger and fries.

The Rose Bowl's new premium seating pavilion has yet to open, but stadium officials say seats are already selling fast. Construction of pavilion and press box levels on the stadium's west side has been the most significant - and expensive - aspect of ongoing stadium renovations now priced at $181 million. The renovation was originally billed as a $152-million effort in 2010, but projected costs climbed to nearly $195 million before city officials down-scaled some planned improvements earlier this year.

Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will play host to the first championship game in the new College Football Playoff. "The stadium itself was the biggest determiner," Bowl Championship Series Executive Director Bill Hancock said after the announcement Wednesday. "It's still THE stadium with a capital 'T'. " It helped immensely that Cowboys Stadium can seat 103,000 for football. The game will be staged Jan. 12, 2015, and marks the start of a Super Bowl-like venue rotation.

UCLA's spring game Saturday was going to cost UCLA students $7 for the bus ride to the Rose Bowl. Then Bruins Coach Jim Mora stepped in. And then athletic department officials rethought the matter. Mora had volunteered to pay for students' bus fare to the game, Josh Rebholz , UCLA associate athletic director of development, said on his Twitter account Wednesday night. On Thursday afternoon, athletic department officials decided to pick up the tab for the trip to the Rose Bowl.

The last vestiges of the controversial Bowl Championship Series, conceived years ago on a cocktail napkin, will be phased out this week at a swank Pasadena hotel. College football power brokers are meeting in Southern California to tie up loose BCS ends as they pin down the particulars for a new four-team playoff beginning in the 2014 season. "We've done a lot of the heavy lifting," BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock said. On this week's agenda for the BCS commissioners: • Picking a name for the new system.

Southern Californians who missed Vampire Weekend at Coachella over the last two weekends will get another chance to see the New York indie-pop band before long. On Sept. 28, Vampire Weekend is to play the Hollywood Bowl, the venerable outdoor venue announced Monday, adding to a summer season that already includes shows by She & Him with Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell (on June 23), Damian & Stephen Marley (on June 30) and Diana Ross (on Aug. 3). Tickets for the concert -- which will also feature Beirut, the globe-tripping gypsy-folk band led by singer-songwriter Zach Condon -- go on sale May 4. Following closely on its Coachella appearances, Vampire Weekend is set to release a new studio album, "Modern Vampires of the City," on May 14. The disc was recorded partly in L.A. with producer Ariel Rechtshaid and serves as the anticipated follow-up to 2010's "Contra," which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Look for a feature on Vampire Weekend in Calendar in the coming weeks, and listen to "Step," from the new album, below.

Chi Cheng Deftones bassist injured in car crash Chi Cheng, 42, the bassist for the Grammy-winning rock band the Deftones, died Saturday at a Sacramento hospital from injuries he suffered in an automobile crash more than four years ago. His mother, Jeanne Marie Cheng, announced his death on the website One Love for Chi that had been set up to support him. In 2001, Cheng and his bandmates received a Grammy Award for best metal...

Talk about the revenge of the nerds -- CBS' "Big Bang Theory" is arguably the hottest show on TV, and actor Simon Helberg, who plays rocket-scientist Romeo Howard Wolowitz, says it's been one wild ride. "It's quite amazing, the popularity of the thing," said Helberg, who lives in the Koreatown area with wife Jocelyn. "Everyone involved with it is just kind of walking around in awe. But we're just trying to make the best show we can and hope that people keep laughing." The series, fresh off winning a People's Choice award Wednesday for best comedy, returns from a holiday hiatus with a new episode on Monday.

Now that anyone with a laptop can make decently epic soundscapes, how will Sigur Rós keep its lead? On "Valtari," it does it by using all its usual tricks, but in even more evocative and expert ways. On "Valtari" it's back to the essentials: oceanic buildups, flickers of treated orchestras and falsetto vocal lines that yank heartstrings, even though you know exactly when they're coming. Santa Barbara Bowl, 1122 N. Milpas St., Santa Barbara. 7 p.m. Fri. $40.50-$55.50. sbbowl.com .